Agents of Change launches the Fellows in Residence program

Agents of Change launches the Fellows in Residence program

Meet the senior fellows that will hone their communication and public engagement skills.

The Agents of Change program, a partnership between EHN and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is excited to announce the Agents of Change Fellows in Residence Program.


During this past year we have been reflecting on our accomplishments with the five Agents of Change cohorts. After five years of training the next generation of impactful environmental health researchers, we decided it was time to deepen our work and reinvest in our existing community. The unprecedented changes in the fields of public health, environmental protection and climate science we’ve seen this year – which directly impacts the careers and livelihoods of many Agents of Change fellows – has underscored the importance of providing our community with the knowledge, skills, networks, and social capital necessary to navigate this complex landscape.

As a result, we are launching the Fellows in Residence program.

Our reimagined fellowship is an effort to deepen our impact on decision-making and provide additional support to six senior Agents of Change fellows in their path towards creating more impactful research.

A reimagined future

This new initiative will build and strengthen alliances and collaborations with other programs, institutions and media organizations, provide support and network to help fellows navigate opportunities where they and their research can lead conversations in their respective fields, amplify our fellows’ expertise and help them develop community and policy products that will be incorporated into decision-making.

The Fellows in Residence program gathers Senior Agents of Change fellows who will participate in key networking opportunities through webinars, personalized mentorship opportunities, and more.

They will also have the opportunity to work on an individualized communication campaign to broaden the impact of their research. In this new era, fellows in residence will pick and choose different deliverables such as op-eds, fact sheets, policy briefs, science snippet videos, or more, that align with their current work and interests.

Our fellows in residence

Meet our fellows in residence in the slideshow below. Click on right or left side of each photo to move forward or backwards.

Timnit Kefela (2024 fellow; Cohort 5)

Timnit Kefela (2024 fellow; Cohort 5)

Dr. Timnit Kefela (ትምኒት ከፈላ) is an assistant professor in Environmental Science andResource Management with a special focus on Environmental Justice in the Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) Program at California State University Channel Islands. Her research primarily focuses on understanding the sources, pathways and fates of microplastics in urban soils and proximal marine environments and community-informed infrastructural interventions that mitigate their impact.

About Agents of Change 

Founded in 2020 by Dr. Ami Zota of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Agents of Change has become one of the premiere national fellowships focused on increasing science communication and public engagement among early career scientists from backgrounds that haven’t been prioritized in science and academia.

Our fellows have published 62 essays, which are freely available in English and Spanish, and have reached 1.7 million readers (around 200,000 readers in Spanish). Our podcast — where we dive into the career paths and big ideas from fellows and other leaders in the field — has reached more than 80,000 listeners annually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud.

Keep in touch

Want to keep on top of the program and the fellows' work? Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on BlueSky, Instagram and LinkedIn. Learn more about current and senior fellows at agentsofchangeinej.org.

Solar panels positioned in field during daytime.

US tariffs risk derailing renewable energy while boosting global economic uncertainty

U.S. trade policy is fueling instability across the energy sector, with tariffs threatening to stall clean energy projects and drive up costs across oil, gas, and renewables alike.

Dan Gearino reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
low-angle photo of train rail.

US Supreme Court clears way for Utah oil railway, limiting scope of environmental review

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that federal agencies don’t need to evaluate the broader environmental effects of Utah’s proposed oil railway, reversing a lower court decision that had blocked the project.

Kyle Dunphey reports for Utah News Dispatch.

Keep reading...Show less
an oil pump in the middle of a field on a rainy, misty day.

Youth climate lawsuit challenges Trump orders boosting fossil fuel production

A group of 22 young Americans is suing the Trump administration, claiming its fossil fuel expansion policies violate their constitutional rights to life and liberty.

Dharna Noor reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
The sun setting over an urban landscape.

Daughter sues oil companies over mother’s death in 2021 heat wave

A Washington woman has filed the first wrongful death lawsuit blaming fossil fuel companies for a loved one’s death during a climate-driven heat event.

David Gelles reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A desert landscape with saguaros, mountains and dark clouds in the background.

Court revives Native American legal challenge to billion-dollar energy corridor across sacred Arizona land

A federal appeals court has reinstated a tribal lawsuit against the Interior Department over a massive transmission line project, saying the agency may have failed its legal duty to protect culturally significant sites in Arizona’s San Pedro Valley.

Susan Montoya Bryan reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Rows of crops stretching into the distance.

European crops fueled by fracked U.S. gas despite clean fertilizer claims

Despite pledges of sustainable production, European chemical giants Yara and BASF are using fracked shale gas from Texas to make ammonia-based fertilizer, a new investigation reveals.

Agathe Bounfour and Clare Carlile report for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
brown animal skull on gray sand during daytime.

Scientists warn of near-term global temperature surge that could test 2C threshold

Global temperatures are increasingly likely to breach dangerous climate benchmarks in the next five years, with new data showing an 80% chance of a new annual heat record and a 1% chance of a year reaching 2C above preindustrial levels.

Jonathan Watts reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.