Fellows List

All Fellows

List by Cohort:

Tabitha Sookdeo

Fellowship Year:

2021

Tabitha Sookdeo is originally from Guyana in South America and grew up on Sint Maarten in the Dutch Caribbean. Tabitha completed her undergraduate studies in environmental justice and has been heavily involved in urban farming, migrant farmworkers’ rights, and refugee resettlement. She is passionate about finding creative solutions for climate adaptation through a global environmental justice lens. Tabitha is a joint degree student at the Yale School of the Environment and Vermont Law School.

Host Organization:

Clean Water Fund

Charlee Thompson

Fellowship Year:

2021

Hello, I’m Charlee! I have a background in civil engineering and am currently a graduate student studying environmental policy at the University of Washington in Seattle. I hope to one day describe myself as a scientist-turned- practitioner, dedicating my career towards mitigating climate change while working on energy, air quality, and climate engineering and policy issues. When I’m not studying or working, you can find me exercising, writing, and indulging in my love for nature.

Host Organization:

Grid Alternatives

Hoai Thuong Tran

Fellowship Year:

2021

I am a second-year MA student in the Tufts University Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. In 2013, I received a BS in Environmental Science and Geology from Northeastern University. My current professional and academic path is sustainable planning and policies that center justice and equality. I am particularly passionate about working on issues that address disproportionate harms on front-line communities. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, camping, and trying out new restaurants.

Host Organization:

The City of Grand Rapids

Tiana Wilson-Blindman

Fellowship Year:

2021

Tiana Wilson-Blindman, Oglála Lakȟóta, is a Masters of Environmental Management, 2021 at Yale School of the Environment. Before YSE, she worked across environmental science education and conservation policy in the West as it intersected with equity, environmental justice, and access to outdoors/public lands. Currently, her work focuses on the intersections of Indigenous rights, natural resource co-management, just transitions, and energy sovereignty. Tiana will be

attending the University of California Berkeley School of Law in the fall, focusing on environmental justice/policy and federal Indian law.

Host Organization:

Northlight Foundation

Cyatharine Alias

Fellowship Year:

2019

Cyatharine Alias hails from a northwest suburb of Chicago. After graduating from Harvard College with a degree in Sociology and a teaching certificate for middle school science, she taught a diverse population of students in Silicon Valley for two years. During this time she wanted to re-envision how science education prepared young people to be active civic agents on environmental and environmental justice issues in their neighborhoods. She now attends the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program at Tufts University and is interested in learning how grassroots environmental organizations use quantitative data in addition to the rich narrative experiences of their members to make systemic change.

Host Organization:

Neighbor to Neighbor

Reflection Entry:

Sowing Seeds to Deep Democracy

Aurora Aparicio

Fellowship Year:

2019

While working at a government consulting firm during her senior year of undergrad, Aurora Aparicio began to see the need for better environmental science communication especially with regard to distributional equity. This realization led her to study Behavior, Education, and Communication as a master’s student at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. She has worked in radio recently and she passes her free time searching for new music and trying to make tofu taste better.

Host Organization:

11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)

Faizah Barlas

Fellowship Year:

2019

Faizah Barlas is a current Master of Public Administration (MPA) student at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service specializing in public policy analysis. She has worked as a civil rights community organizer, a housing rights advocate for disabled tenants, and a court advocate for youth and adults who are justice-involved. Faizah is passionate about policy analysis and research that touches on the intersection of a number of social issues, ranging from criminal justice reform to environmental justice.

Host Organization:

New England Grassroots Environmental Fund

Reflection Entry:

Having More People at the Table Can Make Us Better Listeners

Molly Blondell

Fellowship Year:

2019

Molly Blondell is a master’s student studying Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. Her academic interests are largely concentrated in the politicization of natural resources and land access. Outside of her studies, she is an avid runner and a Judge for the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt.

Host Organization:

Pisces Foundation

Miranda Briseño

Fellowship Year:

2019

Miranda Briseño is finishing her first year in the M.A. program with the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Department at Tufts University. When she graduated from George Mason University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Government she was interested in learning more about how policy-making and public processes could become more equitable. Through her coursework at Tufts, she has become interested in where social resiliency, food systems, and food justice intersect and how cities can make their food systems more equitable and resilient.

Host Organization:

Mystic River Watershed Association

Cara Clase, MEc

Fellowship Year:

2019

Cara Clase is a graduate student at the University of Delaware and is currently obtaining her Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy. She has a master’s degree in economics and has a special interest in energy security in urban housing. In her free time, Cara does musical theatre and likes to paint.

Host Organization:

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis