Interviews for 2021 Switzer Fellowships will be held virtually this year, and we're looking for volunteers. If you'd like to take part in fellowship selection as an interviewer, see dates below. This is a great way to give back to the Switzer Network and to have a role in selecting the next cohort of your network colleagues. Interviews are fun and informative - we learn things every year from the people we interview. It's a wonderful chance to meet these emerging leaders and support their advancement.

Please note, we're holding interviews on Fridays this year instead of Saturdays - we hope that will be easier for all of you. Erin will be putting out a call to all fellows soon, and you will be directed to a sign-up sheet. For now, save the date if you're interested! Choose the time zone that works best for you.

Interviews for California applicants: Friday, May 14, 2021, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Pacific
Interviews for New England applicants: Friday, May 21, 2021, 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Eastern

Last November four Switzer Fellows presented at TEDxSwitzerFoundation as part of TED's Countdown project, a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. Each of the talks envisions a way in which a new future is possible:

Algae leader and advocate, Jill Kauffman Johnson of Corbion discusses how tiny microbes may be one of our most powerful solutions to address climate change. Through fermentation, microalgae, yeast, and bacteria are providing nutritious and delicious foods using less of our planet's resources.

Watch the talk

The food system is in an interesting predicament - it's a significant contributor to one of its own biggest threats -climate change. Poor land management is degrading our soil, releasing greenhouse gases, and contributing to catastrophic events such as droughts, floods, fires, among others. Unfortunately, many of the tools we have developed to address agricultural problems brought about by climate change and other environmental disasters target the symptoms of a crumbling ecosystem rather than solving for the root cause, says Jessica Shade of The Organic Center. We need to shift our thinking to look at challenges that we are faced with pre- and post-farm gate with the goal of developing technology that will better allow us to integrate anthropogenic practices into a functioning ecosystem, so that we can create a future where we are not constantly living in fear of a global ecological collapse.

Watch the talk

More than 4 billion tons/year of plant-based crop and forest residues (e.g. biomass) are being burned. Some of this burning contributes to catastrophic wildfires. And yet, almost all these burned residues would otherwise have intrinsic economic values for conversion into fuels or chemicals. In this talk, Kevin Kung of Takachar explores the apparent paradox between biomass disposal and utilization. He highlights the newest efforts in turning trash into cash, which could make biomass residue conversion more attractive economically, at the same time reducing the environmental and economic damages of biomass burning.

Watch the talk

Cell Mentor's Community of Scholars is a group of Persons Excluded because of their Ethnicity or Race (PEER) composed of postdoctoral fellows, early-stage investigators, instructors, and consultants with a common passion to advance scientific discovery while innovating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. They recently released a list of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America that includes Ayana Johnson and Regan Patterson.

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Isa Gaillard is working with The Greenlining Institute's Environmental Equity team as a Program Manager for the community of practice project. For this project, the institute is partnering with Forth to develop a national community of practice that will include organizations across five states and will focus on advancing clean and equitable transportation for all. The community of practice format balances the community, networking, and learning components of an educational cohort while also maintaining the policy advocacy focus of a coalition. 

Jonathan Likeke Scheuer is in his seventh year of serving as one of nine members of Hawaii's Land Use Commission. The LUC is responsible for moving land from Hawaii's conservation and agricultural districts into the urban district - for housing and other purposes. He writes the state cannot hope to solve its housing problem until it recognizes the myths in most definitions of the housing crisis.

Katie Pofahl planned a seminar series with colleagues from Yale School of the Environment, Yale Law, Northern Arizona University, Lewis and Clark Law School, and the Wyss Foundation. The series focuses on conservation issues in the US West with a focus on policy and the results of the 2020 election. The last of the events will be on Wednesday, January 27. You can register for it and watch recordings of the previous events at https://www.conservationpolicydiscussions.org.