Thank you to all of those working toward a sustainable & resilient future.

We’re celebrating grantees and partners working to care for and understand the Earth. From Chicago-based young adult programs that explore sustainable agriculture, green careers, environmental justice and food sovereignty to scientists around the world studying Earth’s climate, we are committed to protecting our planet.

Comer Crops Crew members Anthony Bonds and Kelly Jones caring for chickens. Photo by Cory Dewald.

Growing Sustainable Futures on Chicago's South Side

When world-renowned scientist and Comer Fellowship founding mentor, Dr. Richard Alley, visited the Comer Education Campus this spring, the conversation turned to the experiences that led to actions toward environmental justice, community food systems and green careers. Hear from the Comer Crops Crew about their paths toward sustainable futures and stay tuned for an upcoming profile of Dr. Alley's fascinating scientific career and exceptional leadership in the field of abrupt climate change, education and global climate policy.

Kelly Jones, 24, Comer Crops Crew Beekeeping Lead, is now training to care for bees all over the city and gaining valuable farmers market experience. She is an entrepreneur working to launch her own tea company with the management and agriculture skills gained on the Comer Crops Youth Farm. Photo by Cory Dewald.

Paulo Rodriguez and Anouck Roignot are using a cutting-edge technique called cosmogenic beryllium-10 surface-exposure dating. Photo by Jasmin Shah.

Dr. Bromley explains that sediment cores are "...like muddy time machines, containing little pieces of evidence (plant fragments, insect remains, pollen, DNA, etc.) for every environmental change that has happened here over the millennia, and these sediments have not seen the light of day for thousands of years!" Photo by Jasmin Shah.

Searching for Clues on the Irish Coast

A team from the University of Galway (PhD students Paulo Rodriguez and Anouck Roignot, and Comer Fellow Dr. Gordon Bromley) is exploring the physical impact of abrupt climate change on this part of the world and trying to understand how these tumultuous events are linked to global warming. Dr. Bromley shares the steps involved in a stunning photo essay from a field site on Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland, where mounds of rubble and boulders called moraines mark the growth and decay of ice age glaciers.

Teens Take On Climate participated in community science in the Gulf of Maine by gathering data about invasive European green and Asian shore crabs. Photo by Jasmin Shah.

“I care about climate change because it doesn't just affect me, it affects my city, state, country, and my planet.”

—— Kemar Oliver

Inspiring, Energizing and Amplifying Teen Climate Action

Shout out to Teens Take On Climate on being nominated for the Climate Action Museum's Climate Action Hero award! Teens Take On Climate supports youth to advance climate justice through experiential learning, employment, and engagement in their communities. Learn more about their work.

Kemar Oliver, 18, Comer Crops Crew and Teens Take On Climate menber. Kemar is currently studying psychology at UIC and is interested in researching the psychological effects of climate change on animals. Photo by Cory Dewald.

This stalagmite is from a cave in the Anti-Atlas on the northern edge of the Sahara in Morocco and part of Gideon Henderson's project to reconstruct the history of the desert. Gideon Henderson, Professor of Earth Sciences at Oxford University, is a geochemist researching climate change and the carbon cycle through the study of oceanography and the palaeoenvironment. Photo by Jasmin Shah.

Ros Rickaby, Chair of Geology, at Oxford University and Changelings member, working in the culture media prep lab. She is a biogeochemist aiming to understand the feedbacks between phytoplankton and the carbon cycle involving the use of culture experiments of marine algae. Photo by Jasmin Shah.

Science in action on the campus of Oxford University

When photographer Jasmin Shah found herself in Oxford, we saw a rare opportunity to visit Changelings members on the campus of Oxford University. The Changelings' mission is to pool their collective vision and their interdisciplinary resources to help answer the most challenging questions about abrupt climate change; to catalyze new research and field work in basic science by leveraging paleoclimate insights to inform and guide current climate science, and to empower and mentor the next generation of climate scientists. Visit the labs at Oxford University to see science in action.