CIERP Alumni Perspectives: A Conversation with Sabrina Rose
By Andrea Nyamekye
Hailing from New Jersey, Sabrina Rose became passionate about climate change and agriculture in middle school. It all began when Sabrina read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. For her, and maybe many of us in this field, this book was the first moment she started thinking about human activity’s role in changing our environment. Sabrina’s major takeaway was that “what we put in the environment matters for our health and nature.”
The urgency of the climate crisis solidified for Sabrina in high school when she watched Inconvenient Truth in physics class. Before seeing this film, Sabrina had never heard of climate change or global warming. I asked her what stood out to her when she watched that film: “There is this part in the film of a frog in a glass container, the heat is rising, and it’s too hot for the frog to escape. That left a big impression on me.” It was as if a second lightbulb illuminated in Sabrina’s mind; the impacts of climate change were grave, but she knew she could do something to address the issue.
While studying Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Sabrina had the opportunity to do a summer development program that focused on international development in Ghana. She was able to connect with other Black people at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology in Kumasi who were just as excited about science, technology, and the environment as she was.
Before coming to The Fletcher School, Sabrina was a consultant at ICF, a global consulting firm, working on groundbreaking projects related to greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting. She estimated the impact of human activities on GHG emissions in the US and supported developing countries like Ghana in estimating their own GHG emissions. Through this experience, Sabrina gained an understanding of the agricultural impacts on climate change.
Sabrina’s time at ICF showed her the importance of policy in its ability to effect change and create impact. She wanted to go back to school to learn how to design and inform policies to make substantial progress towards addressing and mitigating climate change and making food systems more sustainable. This passion led her straight to the Hall of Flags. Fletcher was the best place for her to dive deep in climate and development issues. She recounted moments of perusing through the course catalogue and seeing how many of them were perfectly geared towards questions flowing through her mind about climate policy and international development. She was also attracted to the Center for International Environmental and Resource Policy (CIERP) and the many opportunities to participate in research that allowed students to apply practical skills and create a lasting network. Sabrina’s internship and research experiences all came from CIERP, and her first publication was with the Climate Policy Lab (CPL).
After her many moments searching through the course catalogue, I had to ask what her favorite classes were during her time on campus. One of those favorites was housed in the Tufts Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. She took Socio-Ecological Systems Thinking for Sustainability with Professor Eric Kemp-Benedict and Professor Anne Rappaport. Although the class wasn’t housed at Fletcher, it showed her the power of systems thinking in practical ways to apply to environmental issues. This was integral to her learning because the changes that we’re seeing each day are vast, and systems thinking provided a framework on how to chip away at the issue. It also allowed her to meet other students in the field from the broader Tufts community and hear from different and diverse perspectives.
Her favorite Fletcher course was Climate Change Policy & Law with Professor Kelly Sims Gallagher and Professor Jacob Werksman. That class really cemented for Sabrina that she was in the right place, that Fletcher was the right school for her, and that she was pursuing the right career path. The negotiations simulation was her favorite aspect of the course because it allowed her to think of the big picture and come up with solutions to address climate change on a global scale. Sabrina continues to implement key learnings from this class to this day.
Aside from an intensive class schedule and working at CIERP, Sabrina found many moments of joy at Fletcher. Her fondest memory was Africana Night. During her time, she was a Co-Lead of Africana Club. These cultural nights were an opportunity for the entire Fletcher community to learn about a particular culture association with one of the regional clubs. Hundreds of students came out to Africana Night and enjoyed dance performances, poetry, trivia, African fashion, and of course, delicious African food. I asked Sabrina why this night was so memorable, and she said, “It was one of the last times our class was able to get together before the pandemic. March 7th was Africana Night, and shortly thereafter everything shutdown. I’m grateful for that time and experience leading that club, and I met great people with whom I continue to stay in touch.”
Since graduating from The Fletcher School in 2021, Sabrina has joined CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS). CGIAR is a longstanding international partnership of international agricultural research centers and funders. Sabrina is a Policy Consultant analyzing the agricultural dimensions in international climate policies. When I asked her what led her to this role, she said, “my capstone project, research opportunities, and the courses I took led me straight here.”
As a former Fletcher student who has made climate change and agriculture a priority in her career, I was eager to know how she stays hopeful and optimistic when the science around climate change can feel so daunting. She agreed that it’s hard to stay optimistic considering 2030 is eight years away and we haven’t achieved nearly as much as we could, but she constantly reminds herself that societies can change: “things we do every day weren’t even top of mind five years ago. We’re having this conversation on Zoom, and we didn’t know what that was just a few years ago. I’m hopeful that our society can change and will change in a direction that is better for the climate and our future.”
In honor of Black History Month, and fellow Black students at Fletcher, I asked Sabrina what advice she would give to colleagues like me and others who are in the climate and environmental field: “Well, first I want to lift up Jordan Culpepper on his reflection piece. I couldn’t have agreed more. For the Black students and those interested in climate change, know that you belong. You’re capable and your perspective matters. When we have that confidence in ourselves and are not giving in to imposter syndrome, we really do rise to our potential. And that is key, and I remind myself of that each day.” ∎
Andrea Nyamekye is a MALD student at The Fletcher School, Tufts University.
This is the second part of a two-part CIERP/CPL Black Legacy Month blog series. Read the first part here.