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Partnerships for Climate Justice in the Bay Area

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PCJ in the Bay supports partnerships between Stanford students, faculty and staff and Bay Area community leaders to help build equitable climate change solutions.

Flooding, climate change

Get Involved | Highlights | Partner Organizations | Advisory Board

Why climate change, and why now?

Climate change poses an unprecedented threat to humanity worldwide, including here in the Bay Area. As the effects of sea level rise, extreme heat, and wildfire smoke exacerbate long-standing racial, economic and public health inequities, communities of color are facing the greatest impacts. Addressing these inequities and building community resilience are urgent priorities. At the same time, we need to make drastic changes to our current energy system in order to avoid even more catastrophic impacts in the future. This transition to clean energy must be an equitable one.

What is PCJ in the Bay?

Partnerships for Climate Justice in the Bay Area is a new, five-year initiative to engage undergraduate and graduate students in addressing these challenges in close collaboration with community partner organizations, as well as other departments, programs and centers at Stanford.

PCJ in the Bay seeks to:

  • Build climate resilience and a just transition to a green economy in the Bay Area through sustained community partnerships; and
  • Expand, deepen and coordinate opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to work toward climate justice in the Bay Area, across all elements of Cardinal Service.

See the current list of PCJ in the Bay partner organizations and 2022 Advisory Board members.

Get Involved

PCJ in the Bay Summer Fellowships

Interested in supporting climate justice efforts in the Bay Area? PCJ Fellowships are paid opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to help build equitable climate change solutions. Some of the previous projects with community partners included climate resilience, public health, Just Transition research, and sea level rise planning. Three opportunities are still open until April 11, 2023:

View all of the positions for Summer 2023 and read the 2022 and 2021 fellow bios here.

Join the PCJ in the Bay Advisory Board

Help guide PCJ in the Bay, and build leadership skills and connections with faculty and community partners in the process! Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to apply. The 2022 student board members have been selected (listed in the Advisory Board member list below) but the opportunity to join the board will be open again in Autumn 2023! Learn more here.

Other ways to get involved

For students: The PCJ in the Bay initiative offers opportunities to get involved across all dimensions of Cardinal Service, as well as through community engaged research. See Highlights below for examples of how students have been involved so far, and stay tuned for a range of new opportunities in the 2022-23 academic year! These will be announced through the Cardinal Service Digest and on the Cardinal Service website.

For potential partner organizations: We are eager to expand our partnerships and find new ways for undergraduate and graduate students to advance equitable climate solutions in the Bay Area. If you are interested in partnering with an academic course, hosting student volunteers, and/or hosting a summer intern to support your work, please reach out to Esther Conrad.

For faculty and staff: There are many ways for faculty and staff to contribute, including:

  • Mentoring a student research or capstone project
  • Advising a student organization leading a project with a PCJ in the Bay partner
  • Teaching a Cardinal Course in collaboration with a PCJ in the Bay partner
  • Join the Advisory Board - we seek new members annually in late Fall/early Winter.

To learn more and get involved, contact Esther Conrad

Highlights

Cardinal Quarter: In Summer 2022, eight undergraduate and graduate students served as the second cohort of PCJ in the Bay Summer Fellows. Each fellow worked with one of PCJ in the Bay’s partner organizations to advance climate resilience and energy justice. Read their bios.

Cardinal Courses: Since January 2021, students in twelve Cardinal Courses have collaborated with PCJ in the Bay partner organizations, including Climate Resilient Communities, North Fair Oaks Community Alliance, One Shoreline, Sustainable San Mateo County, and Valley Verde.

Cardinal Commitment: In partnership with Sustainable San Mateo County , student organizations researched and documented climate change policy ideas. These policies are now part of the Sustainable Ideas Bank, a resource for Bay Area cities to adopt solutions that have already been implemented elsewhere.

PCJ in the Bay Partners in the News

Partner Organizations

Climate Resilient Communities Logo

 

North Fair Oaks Community Alliance Logo
Valley Verde Logo
One Shoreline Logo

Advisory Board

Lovepreet Kaur, Valley Verde

Len Materman, San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District OneShoreline)

Ever Rodriguez, North Fair Oaks Community Alliance

Violet Saena, Climate Resilient Communities

Cecilia Taylor, Julie Shanson, Annielka Pérez, Belle Haven Action

Kelly Hunt and Jennifer Adams, Nuestra Casa

Megan Chen, Undergraduate student, undeclared

Eddie Barks, PhD Student, Materials Science and Engineering

Omar Rosales-Cortez, PhD Student, Geological Sciences

Danielle Nguyen, Masters 21', Sustainability Science and Practice

Ryan O'Connor, PhD student, E-IPER

Mikayla Tillery, Undergraduate student, undeclared

Rica Garcia, Environmental Law Clinic

Patrick Archie, O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm

Nicole Ardoin and Mele Wheaton, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program on Environment and Resources, and the Graduate School of Education

Rodolfo Dirzo and Jorge Ramos, Department of Biology; Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve

Sibyl Diver and Emily Polk, Environmental Justice Working Group; Earth Systems Program; Program in Writing and Rhetoric

Chris Field and Jen Chiu, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Luci Herman, Law and Policy Lab, and Molly Melius, Environmental Law Clinic, Stanford Law School

Kajal Khanna,  Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics Departments, Stanford Medicine

Mike Mastrandrea and Michael Wara, Climate and Energy Policy Program, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Richard Nevle, Earth Systems Program

Jenny Suckale and Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Stanford Future Bay Initiative; Depts of Geophysics and Earth System Science

Holmes Hummel, Precourt Institute for Energy

Esther Conrad, Luke Terra, and Alex Wheeler Haas Center for Public Service