Agents of Change: 2022-2023 Cohort

The Agents of Change in Environmental Justice program, a partnership between Environmental Health News and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is excited to bring you essays from our fourth cohort.

The mission of our program, which began in 2019, is to empower emerging leaders from historically excluded backgrounds in science and academia to reimagine solutions for a just and healthy planet. The program, founded by Dr. Ami Zota of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, began with a small group of eight fellows and has grown into one of the premiere national fellowships focused on increasing science communication and public engagement among early career scientists from marginalized backgrounds.

Our fellows have published 40 original essays in EHN, which are freely available in English and Spanish. We also started a popular podcast where we dive into the career paths and big ideas from fellows and other leaders in the field.

Read the essays from our current cohort.

Protecting Indigenous children means protecting water

The global food system is failing small-scale farmers — here’s how to fix it

Water injustice on display in the Southwest US

A love note to brown women facing beauty injustices

Restoring our waters is restoring ourselves

Reducing soil toxics in community gardens

It’s not just hair — fighting beauty injustice beyond the individual

Tapping into the power of community to make informal settlements healthier

Mourning family and climate change in the age of loss and damage

A radical solution to make US affordable housing healthy and community-driven

Farmworkers’ vicious cycle of precarious employment, exploitation and climate change

When a home is not a sanctuary but a sickening, expensive trap

Credit: Joshua J. Cotten/Unsplash

Public lands are not neutral. We must grapple with their racist roots

Credit: Carolyn E. Ramírez

Agents of Change: New fellows will focus on collaboration, impact, and justice