Advocating for Climate Justice

Engineering and climate justice go hand in hand for UMass Amherst Elevating Equity Values in the Transition of the Energy system (ELEVATE) fellows like Cielo Sharkus, a PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering. With a commitment to equity and an interest in evaluating the impacts of climate change on historically underserved populations, her research thrives in this National Science Foundation- funded graduate training and research program.

Her PhD dissertation, “Climate Engineering: Past and Future Risks of Climate Change,” is aimed at understanding how the range of climate detriments, pollutants, and extreme weather will impact the historic Connecticut River watershed with a focus on hydropower facilities, farming, and water quality.

For the ELEVATE program and for Sharkus, outreach is as vital as research. She has worked locally in Holyoke with the community groups Nuestras Raices and Nueva Esperanza to learn from citizens, share information, and enable them to advocate for climate justice. 

An activist and optimist, Sharkus is also the founder of HOPE (Humans for the Opposition of Pollutions and Emissions), a nonprofit centered around climate engineering in New England. “Climate change affects us all in different ways,” she says. “But what if it could teach us how to adapt and prepare our communities better? We could have safer cities, cleaner water, and longer power generation that could last centuries as we adapt and change.”