2022 Napier Fellows
ANNA BURNS - Scripps College
Anna plans to conduct research on peatland rewetting restoration processes at the University of Greifswald, Germany, in conjunction with the Greifswald Mire Centre. When healthy, peatlands offer significant carbon sinks, but when disturbed are major carbon sources; therefore, healthy peatlands are crucial to curbing global warming and restoring the planet’s ecosystems. In partnership with the University’s Institute of Microbiology, she will use her environmental analysis skills in this project which hopefully will inform essential climate policy recommendations in both Germany and the United States.
KENNETH BUTLER - Pitzer College
In partnership with and support of the Reintegration Academy, the Prison Education Project, and The Institute for Global/Local Action and Study, Kenneth plans to establish a peace and reconciliation program that brings together formerly incarcerated people whose lives were impacted by gang culture, especially in Los Angeles County. He intends to develop workshops incorporating environmental and social justice education, that eventually will build towards a larger goal of achieving conflict resolution and racial justice.
FLETCHER NICKERSON - Harvey Mudd College
Fletcher intends to strengthen anti-surveillance action in both New York City and Chicago in collaboration with anti-surveillance activists, and in partnership with Chicago-based Lucy Parsons Labs. Through this project, they plan to focus on three areas: holding individual police officers accountable for the harm they cause, challenging the use of algorithm-based dispatch systems, and empowering community members to launch their own investigations into police misconduct in the two cities and beyond.
PHOUSAWANH PEAUNGVONGPAKDY - Harvey Mudd College
In partnering with the Upward Bound Program of Harvey Mudd College, Phousawanh plans to support first-generation college-bound high school students in learning about mathematical modeling, in order to address the housing crisis in Claremont and other Inland Valley cities. Phousawanh intends that such learning will teach students that math is useful and can help move people towards deeper work for justice in their diverse communities.
ABBY POWER - Scripps College
Abby intends to create a citizen science project in Tangting, Nepal, to address the effects of climate change on agricultural sustainability. She will be working closely with the community, interviewing Tangting farmers, listening well to their needs to determine which adaptation strategies for agricultural productivity would be most helpful and sustainable for the community. Abby is partnering closely with Pitzer in Nepal which has had a longstanding relationship with the village of Tangting.
JESSICA SASS - Pitzer College
Partnering with Facing History and Ourselves – Canada, Jessica will co-produce a case study, through interviewing educators and school board members to gauge their willingness to adopt a justice framework together with Indigenous partners. Her study will ask if knowledge brings justice and how knowledge can be democratized to rebuild a society where humanity is centered. She sees her project informing institutions and teachers of ways to support Indigenous educators to be the main authors of their own story in curricula.
BENJAMIN SIEVERS - Pitzer College
Recognizing a particular unmet need, Benjamin will work with remote, mobile, boat-dwelling people in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to discern their attitudes towards measles outbreaks and the possibility of self-vaccination using an inhaled dry-powder measles vaccine. In partnership with the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia and with the World Health Organization’s mobile immunization team, Benjamin will integrate his research findings as he launches a self-vaccination educational campaign towards the goal of achieving Cambodian and eventually global, measles eradication.