McKinney Climate Fellows

McKinney Climate Fellows arrived in towns across Indiana to help advance their sustainability goals and environmental resilience this summer, part of the Environmental Resilience Institute’s Resilience Cohort program. They were embedded in organizations in these towns, planning and completing projects that will achieve planet positive goals across Indiana. The McKinney Climate Fellowship connects IU students with businesses, local governments, and non-profits seeking sustainability support.

In its seventh year, the McKinney Climate Fellowship has created more than 200 student fellowships. This year, students are leading projects in community climate resilience planning, habitat restoration, and clean energy adoption.

Applications for Summer 2024 McKinney Climate Fellowships will open mid-Fall 2023.

Isioma Nwayor

What work have you been doing this summer as a McKinney Climate Fellow?

This summer, I am working with the Department of Environmental Affairs in the City of Gary, Indiana. My supervisor and I have been actively involved in a crucial project on climate vulnerability and resilience assessment. Our primary objective is to develop a comprehensive plan that assesses the city's susceptibility to environmental challenges and provide resilience strategies. We have been tasked with creating a Climate and Community Trend Primer that builds upon the existing Climate Action Plan of the city. In addition to the trend primer, we are working on compiling a Climate Equity Index Geospatial data.

Isioma Nwayor
Ph.D. Fellow, Department of Geography
Fellowship placement: City of Gary, Indiana - Department of Environmental Affairs

The culmination of our efforts will be a climate vulnerability workshop, which will serve as a platform for various stakeholders from different sectors of the city to come together and contribute their insights. By pooling their knowledge and expertise, we aim to identify the most vulnerable aspects of the City of Gary to climate change impacts. This valuable data will then add to the development of a targeted climate adaptation plan that the city can focus on.

What does sustainability work mean to you?

When I think of sustainability, two crucial aspects come to mind: the environment and humans. It involves both the conservation and nurturing of our environment, and development of inclusive initiatives that cater for the needs of all individuals in a society, regardless of their socio-demographic characteristic. Sustainability incorporates social justice and equity, it acknowledges that certain communities may face a disproportionate burden of environmental issues and strives to address these disparities by providing equitable access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making processes.

Hannah Walker

What work have you been doing this summer as a McKinney Climate Fellow?

This summer, I have been working with the Energy and Sustainability team on several different sustainability projects for the City of Fort Wayne. One is the City Utilities Grease Cooperative, a partnership between City Utilities and area restaurants to better manage the cleaning of their grease interceptors, and the accumulation of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) in the sewer system. This program directly contributes to City Utilities’ goal of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and becoming a net-zero energy consumer by 2030.

Hannah Walker
Undergraduate
Majors: Political Science, International Studies, Italian
Placement: City of Fort Wayne, Indiana – City Utilities

I’m working very closely with City Utilities’ Stormwater Department, drafting policies and programs that would incentivize better stormwater management, with the goal of reducing overall stormwater runoff and pollution into three rivers. In addition to preparing these policies, I am also working on community outreach, with the goal of educating the public about stormwater pollution prevention and all of the sustainability initiatives we have here at City Utilities.

What does sustainability work mean to you?

To me, sustainability is a multi-faceted word. It’s not only focusing on eco-friendly practices in the now, but creating long-lasting climate friendly systems that will exist for generations to come. It’s working across organizational tiers and governmental agencies, from the federal to the local level. And it’s making sure that conversations and decisions include all groups affected, including those who have previously not had a seat at the table or a hand in decision making.

Emilie Johnson

What work have you been doing this summer as a McKinney Climate Fellow?

I am working on creating a sustainable waste management plan for their campus. This includes assessing their current waste management system and finding ways to implement more sustainable changes. Some of the projects within this plan include creating a map of all the waste receptacles, meeting with various departments on campus to discuss what issues they might be seeing, touring recycling facilities in Indy, and doing a week-long waste audit of their campus.

Emilie Johnson
Undergraduate
Majors: Environmental and Sustainability Studies, International Studies
Minors: Anthropology, Biology
Placement: City of Indianapolis – Newfields

What does sustainability work mean to you?

Sustainability work, to me, means advocating for the future generations that will inhabit our planet. Working on these projects is the first step to working towards a healthy environment, no matter how small they may seem.

Homa Taheri

What work have you been doing this summer as a McKinney Climate Fellow?

I work at the Indiana Resilience Funding Hub (IRFH) as a McKinney Climate Fellow. IRFH is a branch of the Indiana Resilience Institute located on the IU Bloomington campus. During the summer, I have been primarily involved in the Justice40 initiative of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, helping communities to apply for its funding. For our partners, I have been preparing a holistic report about the Justice40 initiative.

Homa Taheri
Ph.D. candidate, Economics
Placement: Bloomington, Indiana – Indiana Resilience Funding Hub

In addition, I collaborated with other McKinney fellows on a few team projects. The examples include 1) working with the cities of Holland, Rushville, and Greensburg in Indiana in their applications to the Department of Transportation's "Safe Street For All" program (SS4A), and 2) working with "Friends of Lake Monroe" in their effort to educate local communities about the sustainability of Lake Monroe in accordance with Section 319 (h) of the Clean Water Act.

What does sustainability work mean to you?

The concept of sustainability to me refers to the use of resources in a way that enables our next generation to have better access to them. One way to realize it is by considering the unwanted consequences of the decisions we make when making decisions.

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McKinney Climate Fellows