Intern Spotlight: Isabella Regelean

Isabella is having a busy semester, with climate action at the forefront!

Isabella Regelean is a Dallas, Texas native, now going to school at the University of Arkansas. This year she’s a junior, majoring in Political Science and International Studies. Her interest in climate advocacy comes from her strong convictions about preserving the environment, particularly in waste management. Believing the Earth should be well taken care of, Isabella aims to be apart of this change regarding our global effect on the environment.

As an education and engagement intern, Isabella is a key member of CCL. Every Tuesday, she helps lead our climate meetings, along with tracking member completion of the Climate Advocacy Certificate Program. She plays a large role in recruitment by keeping up to date with our climate jobs forum and welcoming people into the program. Isabella is maintaining an open mind, as she is excited to gain knowledge in climate reform. She hopes to become more familiar and put into practice our goals, such as effectively communicating with Congress members to pass climate bills and discovering new possibilities for reducing global carbon footprint.

Besides CCL, Isabella is involved with several other organizations. Back at the University of Arkansas she is a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Beta, Pre Law Society, and the Arkansas Dance Marathon, a non profit that raises funds for children’s hospitals. After all the hard work she puts in towards her community, she loves to read science fiction novels and watch thriller movies to wind down. As you can gauge from above, Isabella is an incredibly driven individual that we are fortunate to have on the team.

Intern Spotlight: Anna Seifert

Anna is ready to use her previous skill set in environmental science to make a positive impact for CCL youth!

Anna Seifert, originally from Chelsea, Michigan, now studies at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. She’s currently a junior and her major, environmental science, is a perfect fit for our work. Similar to many people in this generation, she wants to ensure a healthy, environmentally focused future. She’s passionate about environmental education and inspiring more youth to become climate advocates.

She is pursuing a CCL internship in our National Youth Action Team. Her previously mentioned passions shine through; her focus this semester will be to help new members in their assimilation to CCL, along with providing avid encouragement in their involvement. She hopes to be a role model for our youth and is excited to collaborate with other members of the National Youth Action Team. Anna will also play an active role in our communications team to further social media engagement.

Anna is no stranger to climate advocacy. Back at school, she’s involved in the Eastern Michigan University’s Sierra Club as Vice President! This is no surprise, considering she loves to spend time outdoors and taking care of her plants. Besides her environmental work, Anna is an avid reader. You can also find her cuddling up with her pets while watching her favorite show, Gilmore Girls. We are looking forward to having a dependable person like Anna in CCL!

Intern Spotlight: Jenny Jang

Jenny is having a blast exploring southeast Asia while taking a gap semester to focus on her climate advocacy!

Jenny Jang is a long-time resident of Ann Arbor and a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University where she is majoring in Environmental Science. Like many young people, Jenny grew up confronting the reality that our planet’s future was uncertain. She views climate advocacy as a way of regaining some control over what the future holds. Jenny is eager to be a part of this change, and believes that advocating for pro-climate legislation is one of the most important things we can do to drive it.

This spring, Jenny will be applying her passion to CCL’s work as a college outreach intern. She will primarily be supporting our efforts to directly reach out to institutions, faculty, and students. Jenny will also be hosting welcome meetings with new college student members of CCL. This is Jenny’s first internship, and she’s approaching it with curiosity and an open-minded. She is particularly looking forward to meeting like-minded people that she can both support and learn from.

Jenny is also keeping pretty busy this semester, even as she’s taking a gap semester from classes. She’s spending the spring traveling across southeast Asia! This is no surprise, given that one of her hobbies is exploring new places. She also enjoys listening to music and watching movies, and one of her favorites is 10 Things I Hate About You. When she’s home, you’ll also see her taking walks with her two pet maltese! We are so excited to work with Jenny and see how she brings her candor and taste for exploration to our work.

Fellow Spotlight: Mabel Travis

Mabel is majoring in environmental science and conservation at Concordia University Texas and hopes to pursue a graduate degree in environmental policy!

Like many of us, Mabel Travis is no stranger to the paralyzing impacts of extreme climate anxiety. That’s why she’s so passionate about climate solutions that will help people and the planet. An Environmental Science and Conservation major at Concordia University Texas, she is minoring in Communication so that she can improve her advocacy skills. For the last couple years, she has been hard at work to introduce her peers to Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Why, you might ask? Because she credits us with giving her hope that she could do something to turn the tide on climate change.

This year, Mabel has been supporting our team as our Third Coast Climate Advocacy Fellow. She has been a valuable addition to the vibrant third coast team, helping to plan their fall 2023 regional conference held in New Orleans which was a huge success. She even helped plan and spoke in a youth panel during that conference! In addition to her work in the region, which will soon be expanding to supporting group start workshops and engaging more in state legislature engagement, Mabel has also been helping our campus leaders in the region with their efforts to engage more students on campus. This is a part of the job she is especially well-suited for, as the founder and leader of our CCL campus chapter at Concordia. They are hoping to focus their efforts on DEI work, providing an inclusive environment where all students can act on climate.

Mabel is also passionate about connecting climate action with creation care. She even hosted a recent higher ed call that explored how college students could reach out to evangelicals and have productive conversation about climate action. This spring, she is doubling down on her efforts to bring CCL to more of her classmates by working with her professor and undergraduate dean to make our Climate Advocacy Certificate Program a credit-earning option at Concordia. After graduation (Spring 2025), she would like to pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Policy. We are so grateful for Mabel’s leadership on her campus and beyond, and look forward to seeing what she will accomplish next!

Intern Spotlight: Kieran

A native Californian, Kieran is studying in Iowa and serving as our national Chapter Development Intern!

Kieran is a senior at the University of Iowa, where he is completing his bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing. Through previous internship experiences, he had discovered a passion for community outreach and communication, and the spaces where they overlap. And when it came to applying those skills to climate, the choice was simple: as Kieran said, “I simply feel that it is the biggest crisis facing the world today.”

This year, Kieran has been serving as our chapter development intern. For the first time ever for someone in this role, he has focused his energy on doing outreach activities in his local community in Iowa, like hosting tabling sessions. And if you’ve joined CCL recently, you might already have seen Kieran before because he helps to run the weekly info sessions for new members on Wednesday. He took on this internship because he wanted to start doing his part to address climate change. As an added bonus, he’s also excited to be learning about different technologies and how to work with people of different backgrounds.

When he’s not studying or busy doing outreach, Kieran describes his tastes as eclectic. In true creative writing major fashion, Kieran loves to read and write fiction. His favorite book is “The Stories of Breece D.J. Pancake,” required reading for any aspiring author. He also describes himself as a collector, and enjoys TIG welding. And of course, his dog, Zona, is never far behind. Kieran has been such a valuable addition to our team that he has been offered (and accepted!) to extend his internship to two semesters, so we will continue to see his great work throughout the spring!

Fellows Spotlight: James Bradford III

A committed youth mentor and coach, James has been a wonderful addition to our higher education team!

James Bradford III is certainly no stranger to CCL. In fact, he was a volunteer long before starting his fellowship! Now, he is an undergraduate at Saint Paul College majoring in communications, and he credits his passion for climate advocacy to his curiosity about how climate and environmental issues affect our everyday life and decisions. In particular, he is driven by a desire to help children and his community on a broader scale than he had previously - which is saying a lot, as someone with nearly ten years of experience coaching, mentoring and volunteering in his community. James is especially passionate about serving minoritized youth in all of his outreach efforts.

This year, James has been serving CCL as our North Wind Climate Advocacy Fellow. In this role, he helps both our higher education and regional outreach efforts. Since we don’t have as many active campus chapters in the region yet (though please reach out to us if you’d like to start one!), James has been coaching campus leaders in the Great Lakes Region as they either continue building up their already vibrant chapters, like at University of Michigan, or are just getting one started, like University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. However, this focus on the Great Lakes doesn’t mean he isn’t still giving back to the communities in his region. In fact, James has leveraged his communication and youth outreach talents to help plan a panel for the North Wind Regional Conference featuring youth voices sharing their experiences in the climate movement. He is also planning a youth action day in Saint Paul for the spring term as his passion project!

When he’s not busy with his classes or his fellowship responsibilities, James remains highly involved in his community. As a lifelong athlete, he provides coaching and mentoring to young Black and Brown youth in his community. He leads by example, staying active even when his schedule might be busy. You’ll often see him walking around on Zoom calls! He is also the president of the Diversity Real student group on his campus, which frequently hosts community events (which James of course invites his CCL chapter to table at). We have been so delighted to watch James grow from an energetic volunteer to a faithful climate advocate and fellow!

Intern Spotlight: Megan DiFranco

Megan DiFranco is musician, bird nerd, and climate advocate!

Megan DiFranco is a senior studying biology at the University of Rochester. She became interested in climate advocacy as a result of her interest in improving the way we communicate scientific and political concepts to the general public. Seeing the strides CCL was making to communicate about climate change in a nonpartisan way, Megan was drawn to intern with us.

Megan served as the Education and Engagement Intern this fall. As part of her responsibilities, she assisted with running seminars and trainings, like our weekly Core Volunteer Trainings. In addition, she supported CCL’s numerous online forums, like the discussions our participants in the Climate Advocacy Certificate Program engage in throughout the semester. If you joined CCL this fall, you might even have had Megan respond to your introduction post! Her efforts were invaluable to making people feel welcome this semester.

When she’s not busy studying, she serves on the executive boards for her university’s Birding Club and the Transfer Student Organization. She also has a creative streak, playing clarinet in the pit orchestra for Off Broadway on Campus. If she manages to find a few extra hours in the day, you’ll find her reading, horseback riding, or hanging out with her dog, named Bear. Megan’s adventurous spirit draws her to stay busy and active in a lot of different communities. We’re grateful she chose to channel this energy into CCL this semester!

Intern Spotlight: Tupelo H

Tupelo’s gap year took her to Aotearoa this year to work on climate justice issues. Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.

When Tupelo H decided to take a gap year after high school, she knew she wanted to dedicate her time to climate justice. She spent three months in Aotearoa (New Zealand) with conservation volunteers and a youth climate voting campaign before starting her training for Project Inside Out. Tupelo was drawn to climate advocacy through her emotional connection to the environment, galvanized by the 2020 lockdown. In the face of the fear and grief of that time, she came to understand the impact of climate change and committed to taking action. Now, climate advocacy continues to draw her in through her pursuit of creating a sustainable, just, and compassionate world.

This fall, Tupelo interned with our Resilience team as the Resilience and Education Intern. She helped volunteers handle the challenges of climate advocacy, prevent burnout, and foster joy and connection in their work. Her role included helping to bring resilience into the wider CCL community by posting in forums, creating tabling resources,updating the resilience hub and trainings, and so much more. She even edited a couple of videos to help educate volunteers on the steps to build resilience and become a resilient climateer! She has learned a lot about what resilience means and how to build it, and hopes to use that knowledge to help others in the climate movement. Young people in particular, she says, are burnt out and overwhelmed by the problems of our time. Tupelo hopes that by helping them feel validated, supported, and equipped to handle these challenges, they will build resilience and feel empowered to continue taking action.

Tupelo is back in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida with her two cats and chickens. To unwind, she loves taking pictures of organisms for iNaturalist and listening to podcasts. She also enjoys British Comedy Shows like Taskmaster. Her favorite music artist is AURORA, a Norwegian electropop artist. We were delighted to work with Tupelo this semester and cannot wait to see the world that her resilient, empathetic leadership will create!

Intern Spotlight: Karina Taylee

Karina is graduating from Florida International University with her master’s degree in December 2023!

Karina Taylee is completing her Master’s in Global Strategic Communications and a certificate in Science Communication at Florida International University. Her interest in climate advocacy is tied to her Miami roots, where she could enjoy nature year-round. But even in her lifetime, Karina has seen the effects of climate change, like flooding, stronger hurricanes, and marine biodiversity loss. Growing up in a climate-changed world with a meteorologist abuelo instilled in her a curiosity to understand what was happening to her world - and what she could do about it.

This fall, Karina interned with our Citizens’ Climate Radio team. She researched topics and future guests to develop questions and plans for episodes. She is also editing parts of the episodes, and shares that she continues to learn and expand her duties every week. She hopes this experience will hone her journalism and producing skills. She wants to be a better researcher, interviewer, and radio producer so she can tell stories that inspire others to care and advocate for their planet. Karina is especially passionate about creating content that shows people that they have a role in the climate movement. She wants “everyone to know that their skills, experiences, and perspectives are needed and welcome in our movement.”

When she is not busy with graduate school or producing great episodes of CCR, Karina loves to read and write novels, poetry, and short stories. She also enjoys traveling as a way to learn about the world, and loves to be active. If that wasn’t enough, she’s learning how to sew to upcycle clothing! When it comes to music, she sticks to the classics - Queen! Her current favorite movie is “The Trial of the Chicago Seven,” and she has been enjoying the book “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer. She’s currently binging the t.v. show Frasier with her three pitbulls - two sisters and their mother! -, Lyla, Angie and Noir. Karina is an ambitious climate advocate, leader, and storyteller and we are so grateful for her talent!

Fellow Spotlight: Minerve Jean

Minerve also runs a blog website, visit it at https://minervejean.com/.

Minerve Jean graduated from the University of Florida in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Advertising with an English concentration, and has since then played a pivotal role in the fields of social action, communications and publishing, and climate advocacy. She was drawn to climate advocacy because she learned how deeply everything is intertwined with the environment and how important it is to protect the only home we have. She acknowledges that when we protect Earth and its resources, that protection is extended in a variety of ways. Minerve is currently pursuing environmental studies.

Minerve is one of our Diversity & Inclusion Fellows. She is responsible for taking part in advocacy methods to bring awareness to the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act to local and national politicians to gather support. She also engages, inspires, and galvanizes the community to help advance local, state, and national diversity and inclusion initiatives and elevate unrepresented voices.

Minerve is an author and writer, having published a lovely poetry book titled “For The Secrets That Gave Themselves Away” and more recently, her bilingual children’s book “The Ayiti We See” which debuts in January 2024. Her work as an author revolves around supporting underrepresented communities, reflected in her efforts to launch bilingual children’s books aimed at supporting literacy among children. Minerve describes herself as a genuine person who hopes to grow in her climate advocacy journey and continue to push for greener solutions while helping underrepresented communities have a voice in the space.

Intern Spotlight: Lathan Smalley

Lathan is from Rogers, Arkansas!

Lathan Smalley is currently a Sophomore at Hendrix College, double majoring in Politics and Mathematics. After becoming a member of CCL in 2020, Lathan was encouraged to see more bipartisan support for issues regarding climate change policy solutions. Seeking support from both sides of the political spectrum is what drew him to take a personal stance in climate work, after seeing that there were actual paths to climate change policy solutions regardless of the political affiliation of those in the legislature.

Lathan is one of our interns on our National Youth Action Team, primarily working on the Electrification Challenge. The Electrification Challenge encourages schools across the United States to electrify school heating, cooling, and cooking systems and begin installing solar panels to reduce their carbon emissions. Lathan hopes to hone in on his professional communication skills, time management, and aims to allow himself to act as a resource for other people who might be interested in the work he is doing, all of which are critical aspects of his current work on our National Youth Action Team.

In his free time, Lathan really enjoys reading, and his favorite book is The Overstory by Richard Powers. He is a very deliberate individual who plans on developing his personal and professional skill set to allow him to succeed in future opportunities the same way that he is currently succeeding with CCL.

Intern Spotlight: Sarah Liez

Sarah plans on pursuing a master’s degree in environmental studies, or a similar field.

Sarah Liez is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Public and Professional Writing. Since graduating, she has been working as a communications assistant for a research lab on her university's campus (called the Learning Research and Development Center), and performing freelance work for a local news outlet called PublicSource. Sarah understands the dire and immediate need for drastic policy reform that effectively addresses the global climate crisis. When she interned with a non-profit last summer — the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, now known as the New Roots Institute — she fell in love with non-profit work and knew that she wanted to use her degrees to pursue a career in advocacy.

Sarah is one of our interns for CCL’s Development Team, where she is responsible for conducting landscape-level research on foundations and corporate grant-making entities. She also supports donor stewardship and renewals by making annual renewal calls, preparing communications, and acknowledging their contributions with personal phone calls and emails, along with supporting development-related writing projects such as grant applications, letters of inquiry, and internal reports. Through this role, she hopes to gain some hands-on experience in the field of environmental advocacy and learn the inner workings of a climate-focused non-profit organization.

Sarah loves to read and write, loves hiking and yoga, and loves all of the pets she has, which include a staffordshire terrier and a chihuahua/pomeranian mix. Her favorite artist is the Beatles, her favorite movies are Silver Linings Playbook and What We Do in the Shadows, and her favorite book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Sarah is very motivated about advocating for national policies that address the ongoing climate crisis and she hopes that her actions within CCL will help gain some wins in terms of bipartisanship, permitting reform, and overall policy reform.

Intern Spotlight: Emily Johnson

Emily is a huge Taylor Swift fan! (As we all should be).

Emily Johnson is currently a senior at Transylvania University, majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies. Growing up in rural Kentucky, their passion for climate advocacy stems from the way that poor and rural communities are so often ignored, ridiculed, and thrown under the bus when considering different climate policies. One of their main goals through climate advocacy is to make an effort to advocate for underserved communities. Growing up and witnessing environmental disadvantages that people they loved had to experience is what pushes Emily to support devising climate solutions that make sure that their voices are heard, prioritized, and valued.

Emily is our Appalachia Climate Advocacy Fellow, and they hope to become a part of the next generation of climate leaders and advocates through their work here at CCL. As a climate advocacy fellow, Emily supports campus leaders across Appalachia and other parts of the country to organize climate action on their campuses, building a strong base of collegiate climate advocates. In addition, they are supporting our efforts to engage more people in climate advocacy in general across their home state of Kentucky through social media outreach and other projects.

Emily is a huge Taylor Swift and My Chemical Romance fan, and they love going to concerts. When it comes to sporting events, Emily is also a fan of hockey and football, both of which are very entertaining. They have a cat named Barbie, who is also a huge Taylor Swift fan. We are glad to have Emily join us at CCL, and we look forward to seeing the nationwide connections and relationships they build.

Intern Spotlight: Horace Mo

Horace loves visiting natural landmarks!

Horace Mo is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, earning his B.A. in Environmental Studies. He is currently working as an Environmental Specialist for Senior Advocates for Generational Equity (SAGE), a non-profit based in Portland, Oregon. Horace has always had a passion for nature and the environment; when he was a kid, he traveled with his parents to a lot of nature reserves, including Tibet, Xinjiang in China. Further down the line, he got to see the Northern Lights in Alaska and Mount Fuji in Japan, and he never takes for granted the beautiful scenes that the planet offers us. His love for nature and passion for sustainability are what drew him to climate advocacy.

Horace is one of our interns for Citizens’ Climate Radio, and he is responsible for helping the team produce our monthly Citizens’ Climate Radio podcast episodes, editing scripts, and interviewing guest speakers. Through this role at CCL, Horace hopes to learn more about podcast production, especially the storytelling format of writing scripts, along with honing his speaking skills and tricks for podcasting. Working with Citizens’ Climate Radio allows him to vocalize his passions and learn more about climate advocacy from the people around him.

In his free time, Horace loves to play the Guzheng, which he is very talented at! He is also an avid bodybuilder, swimmer, and loves to cook. While he’s working out, he loves to listen to J Cole, Michael Jackson, and Wiz Khalifa. Horace is a genuine person who hopes more people around him notice the importance that individual actions play in addressing climate change, and he is hopeful that his efforts can exemplify that there is a community for individuals to scale up their actions and not feel alone while doing so.

Intern Spotlight: Lily Russian

Lily is one of our Citizens Climate Radio interns this fall!

Lily Russian is currently a junior at Trinity College, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Environmental Science. From a relatively young age, Lily always knew she liked science, but as she grew older, she eventually attended The Island School during her junior year in high school, a 100-day semester program on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas. The program focused on sustainability and marine biology with many outdoor/wilderness components, and here was where Lily’s passion for science and the environment was sparked.

Lily is currently one of our Citizens Climate Radio interns this fall, and she is responsible for co-hosting podcast episodes, researching and interviewing guests, and contributing to post-production (music selection, producing transcripts, promotional materials). In this role, she hopes to learn more about climate change advocacy and podcast production. Lily’s role allows her to foster more education and awareness about the different climate change advocacy topics, and she gets to speak to people directly involved in the movement. CCL’s Citizens Climate Radio produces one episode per month, where they discuss a wide variety of different topics within climate change policy and advocacy, and this allows Lily to learn directly from these grassroots movements.

On campus, Lily is the Chair of the Greek Life Committee at the Trinity College chapter of the OneLove Foundation (a foundation that brings awareness to relationship abuse and teaches people about the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships), and the Chief Information Officer for the Executive Board of the Inter-Greek Council. In her free time, Lily really enjoys singing, cooking, and playing the ukulele. She has three dogs who are equally as passionate about climate change advocacy as she is. Lily is a compassionate and talented student who we are so glad to have joined us at CCL.

Intern Spotlight: Helen Tiffin

Helen Tiffin is a sophomore at William & Mary in Virginia, studying Integrative Conservation and Environmental Humanities. Spending her childhood on a farm in rural Ohio sparked Helen’s deep care for the environment. But as she got older, she saw that others hadn’t had similar opportunities to connect with nature - and even worse, that those nature experiences are becoming rarer with climate change. Helen chose to step up and do something to reverse that trend.

Helen Tiffin can be seen attending a climate protest!

Helen is one of our college outreach interns this fall. She chose CCL specifically because we provide tangible solutions and clear avenues to take action. In addition to interning with us, Helen is the Vice President of the William and Mary CCL Chapter, runs social media for the Dayton Chapter, and is currently helping plan the Mid-Atlantic conference! As a college outreach intern, she is helping to generate engaging and informative content for our website and Instagram. She is particularly passionate about our nonpartisanship value, and hopes to build spaces for college conservatives here at CCL.

When she’s not busy with CCL, you can find Helen singing in her Methodist Church choir in Ohio. On campus, she’s highly engaged with the Wesley Foundation, a community that provides meals, fellowship, and radical hospitality to all people. She enjoys spending time with animals (including her farm animals and pets), and isn’t afraid to set her creative streak free, making jewelry out of sea-glass that she collects, designing stickers, and playing ukulele. Her favorite band is The Beatles! We are thrilled to have such a visionary young climate leader joining the higher ed team.

Intern Spotlight: Alexander Diaz

Alex is our Fall College Outreach Intern and is a senior at UC Irvine!

Alexander Diaz is a senior at University of California Irvine majoring in Environmental Science and Policy. Seeing the impending danger of ignoring the climate challenges we’re facing drove Alex to take climate action. He believes it is critical that we work collectively to address these issues, and do so with the urgency they demand. 

Alex is one of our college outreach interns this fall. In this role, he will be connecting with students across the country to gauge their interest in climate action and make sure they’re connecting meaningfully with CCL to facilitate their growth as climate leaders. He views his role as encouraging and propelling engagement with students and their local communities or chapters, in whatever form that engagement might take. Alex is particularly excited to influence at least one person’s actions to become more engaged within their community and pursue their own sustainability journey. With more than 2,400 new people joining CCL every month, we’re pretty confident he’ll be influencing more than just one. 

When he’s not busy serving you as a college climate advocate, Alex enjoys basketball, soccer, and is a bit of a sneaker head. His favorite artist is Frank Ocean, and when it’s time to chill on the couch watching a film, he’s reaching for Revenge of the Sith. Alex hopes people will see and value his compassionate approach to engaging new people in the climate movement. We are very lucky to have him joining our higher ed team!

Intern Spotlight: Samantha Johnstone

Samantha Johnstone

Samantha is our National Communications Intern this summer. We are so excited to have her, and have been so grateful for all the amazing content she’s helped with!

We are so excited to have Samantha as our communications intern this summer! She does important work editing and looking over oped submissions, letters to the editor, and articles that volunteers have written. She takes time to make sure that they are both well crafted and fit with the style and messaging of CCL! In addition, Samantha hosts zoom meetings for volunteers to teach them how to write letter to the editors, practicing with local news articles. She has assisted the blog by editing, transcribing, and even writing some of her own posts.

Samantha is studying at Cornell University, majoring in Environment and Sustainability with a focus on Environmental Humanities, minoring in communications. When not in class, she writes for the school newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. She is the communications intern for TIAA- divest, which focuses on divesting from companies who are perpetuating the climate crisis. If that wasn’t enough, she also is a founding member of the Cornell Sierra club, working actively as their webmaster. 

Samantha got started as a climate advocate through the animal rights movement. She’s been vegetarian since she was seven, and vegan since she was fourteen. As she’s grown in her advocacy, she has focused on climate change, because that issue is something that affects people, animals, and the planet. She loves focusing on positive content, which is a huge part of why Samantha loves working with CCL. Here at CCL, we try to discourage climate defeatism through highlighting positive stories and creating access to resources for change. Samantha knows that this approach aligns with her values, and she loves being able to uplift and inspire others to be involved in this way. 

In her free time, Samantha enjoys writing and making delicious vegan food with her loved ones. She loves spending time outdoors, whether it’s skiing, hiking, or swimming- she will always jump in a body of water. Fun fact: She’s been to five Taylor Swift concerts with her dad, who is also a huge Swiftie! 

Thanks for everything you do Samantha, we are so excited to see what your future holds!

Intern Spotlight: Maya Karmaker

We are delighted to introduce Maya as our Education and Engagement Intern this summer. She works on CCL’s volunteering and training programs, where she engages with volunteers online through the “Introduce Yourself” and “Certificate Program” Forums as well as through the learning portal. She has been instrumental in organizing content and creating a welcoming and informative communication with the organization. She is hoping to generate more accessible environmental education while actively engaging in the communities who use our resources. 

Maya got her start in the environmental world when she got to see first hand the disparities between urban communities of color, and wealthier white peers. Everything from outdoor recreation to greenspaces is affected by inequality, with people of color facing the largest impacts of climate change. Maya is passionate about climate because she believes in an equitable future for her urban community, as well as other groups who face the worst of climate change. 

In her free time, Maya enjoys trying out new cuisines and restaurants with her friends and getting outdoors to sit by a body of water. She relaxes by crocheting, word searches, and watching reality TV. We are so excited to have Maya with us this summer!

Intern Spotlight- Sara Eyassu

Sara Eyassu- Summer 2023 Mountain West Climate Advocacy Fellow

Sara Eyassu is our Mountain West Climate Advocacy Fellow! She supports campuses to engage youth in her hometown region of the Mountain West, creating more climate advocacy in the area. Specifically, she works with campus leaders and universities to create meaningful impact and engagement with those populations, with emphasis on youth voices. At the end of the summer, Sara is returning to Los Angeles where she is a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California, majoring in Environmental Studies. 

Sara got into advocacy work at first by changing personal habits, then learned more in her AP Environmental Sciences class, expanding her focus outward. Some of her engagement work outside of CCL includes a teaching fellowship for youth related to environmental justice, Transformational Leadership Board on her campus, and is involved with other clubs at her University. She is particularly interested in environmental justice and youth advocacy. She is interested in environmental policy that takes into account all people, as a healthy environment is a universal issue. 

When she’s not shaping the minds of our youth, you can find Sara being active, either hiking or at the gym. She loves reading, watching tv, and hanging out with her friends. Sara’s love of learning has helped make her a wonderful fellow with us - we are so lucky to have Sara on board this year!