Shaina Sadai
Shaina Sadai, who received her Ph.D. in June 2022 and is currently the Hitz Fellow for Litigation-Relevant Science at the Union of Concerned Scientists, conducts research on climate modeling and the Antarctic. She received a grant for “Multispecies Climate Justice and Sea-Level Rise,” the first research project to analyze sea-level rise as an issue of multispecies climate justice. Shaina writes:
As climate change continues to alter the structure and function of Earth it is imperative that the needs of animals be adequately understood and represented in policy and advocacy. Everyone is impacted differently by changes in the climate based on their individual needs, positionality, and geographic location. However, there are shared aspects of climate justice that are broadly relevant. These are the need for a safe and livable home with adequate resources, representation in the political realm to advocate for these needs, and broader societal respect for your existence and wellbeing. Justice theory equips us with the tools to assess each of these by focusing on procedural (equity in decision-making processes), recognition (existence rights), and distributive (spatial and temporal variability) forms of justice.
Shaina sent us a report on her work in December 2022. She had conducted the literature research, created an annotated bibliography, and developed a framework for interpreting the findings through the lens of climate justice, drafting of a peer reviewed publication, and development of outreach materials. You can read her ongoing writings on climate justice and sea-level rise here.