Environmental & Social Justice

Fellow

Stephanie Safdi

2012 Fellow
Stephanie Safdi practices environmental, land use law, and energy law with the public interest law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP in San Francisco, CA. Prior to entering private practice, Stephanie was a law clerk on the Ninth Circuit...
Fellow

David Ciplet

2012 Fellow
David Ciplet is a sociologist focused on issues of globalization, environmental inequality, and climate justice. From the negotiating halls of the United Nations to community center meeting rooms, his research uses participatory qualitative...
Fellow

Miriam Torres

2012 Fellow
Miriam Torres is an environmental justice advocate, urban planner, collaborator, and mother. Currently, Miriam is a Principal Environmental Planner in the Planning and Climate Protection Division of the Bay Area Air Quality Management...
Fellow

Esther Conrad

2012 Fellow
A 2012 Switzer Fellow, Esther is deeply invested in policy-relevant research and partnerships to address critical sustainability challenges, especially in the context of water and climate change, and environmental justice. Currently, she works at Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West, where she manages research projects in collaboration with government entities focused on groundwater governance, California's transition to zero emission vehicles, and policies to reduce wildfire risk.
Fellow

Molly Greene

2012 Fellow
Molly Greene is an interdisciplinary scholar and artist whose work explores nature, embodiment, memory, landscape iconography and technology through printmaking, painting, fiber arts, and writing. She is currently a doctoral student in the...
Fellow Story

Bacon quoted in UCLA student paper about choosing fair trade coffee

“(Fair trade) is more than a market,” said Christopher Bacon, an assistant professor of environmental politics and policy at Santa Clara University. “It’s a set of social relationships between those that grow the coffee and those that drink it.” Read the full piece
June 6, 2012
Fellow Story

Perrault co-authored briefing calling for greater scrutiny of hedge funds and banks funding development

"Investment decisions involving loss of land and access to critical resources like water can have a devastating impact on the poorest communities who are dependent on the land to feed their families and make a living. For such projects, there must be even greater transparency, due diligence, and attention to community rights to resources - not less," said Anne Perrault of the Centre of International Environmental Law, co-author of the briefing. Read the full story
May 24, 2012
Fellow Story

Fighting for resource rights

Sara Mersha (2010) is the Director of Grantmaking and Advocacy for Grassroots International. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sara worked for 12 years as Lead Organizer and then Executive Director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), a grassroots group serving low-income communities of color in Providence, RI. After serving as Visiting Faculty in the Ethnic Studies Department of Brown University, she began a master's degree at Brown's Center for Environmental Studies.
May 7, 2012
Fellow Story

McCandless helps launch exhibit of art by undocumented Vermont farmworkers

"I was excited about the idea of creating a project with people in my own state," she said. She approached Ethan Mitchell and Susannah McCandless, an Addison County couple that she knew offered help to the local farm-worker community, and through them met some of the region's Mexican laborers. Read the full story
May 2, 2012
Fellow Story

O'Rourke quoted in NY Times about fixing Apple's supply lines

When he became chief, many people wondered whether Mr. Cook, a skilled manager of Apple's operations, could ever rival the visionary influence of Mr. Jobs on Apple products. Instead, it appears Mr. Cook could make his earliest and most significant mark by changing how Apple's products are made. ''I want to give credit to Tim Cook for this,'' said Dara O'Rourke, associate professor of environmental and labor policy at the University of California, Berkeley. ''He's admitting they've got problems.''
May 1, 2012