Environmental Activist, MacArthur Fellow Catherine Coleman Flowers to Speak at UMass Amherst on Feb. 29

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Catherine Coleman Flowers—internationally recognized environmental activist, critically acclaimed author, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and vice chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council—will deliver a keynote address for Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 29, at 5:30 p.m. in the UMass Amherst Student Union Ballroom. 

The keynote address, hosted by the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (HFA) with generous support from many campus partners, is the culminating event of HFA's Black History Month celebrations. The presentation is free and open to the public, though registration is encouraged. 

A cross-campus collaboration aimed at deepening the discussions around climate change, the talk will highlight the intersectional nature of climate change by centering racial, economic and health inequities as they relate to our changing planet. 

Flowers is an environmental and climate justice activist who has brought attention to the largely invisible problem of inadequate waste and water sanitation infrastructure in Black, Indigenous, Latinx and poor rural communities of the United States. 

Founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Flowers has spent her career promoting equal access to clean water, air, sanitation and soil to reduce health and economic disparities in marginalized, rural communities.   

Flowers sits on the board of directors for the Climate Reality Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Geophysical Union, as well as serves as a Practitioner in Residence at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. In 2021, her leadership and fervor in fighting for solutions to these issues led her to one of her most notable appointments yet: vice chair of the Biden Administration’s inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. In 2023, she was recognized as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and was featured on Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list. 

In her book, “Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret,” Flowers shares her inspiring story of advocacy, from childhood to environmental justice champion. In the book, she discusses sanitation and its correlation with systemic class, racial and geographic prejudice that affects people across the U.S. She and her work have been profiled by CBS’s 60 Minutes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, PBS Newshour and more. 

Flowers’ complete bio can be found at catherinecolemanflowers.com. 

Event sponsors include the Toko Lecture Fund by the College of Humanities & Fine Arts; the School of Earth and Sustainability; the Office of the Provost; the Isenberg School of Management; the College of Natural Sciences; the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE); the Office of Equity and Inclusion; Commonwealth Honors College; the School of Public Health and Health Sciences; Clean Energy Extension; the School of Behavioral Sciences; the Graduate School; and UMass Women in Leadership.