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Community Spotlight

Steinhardt Sustainability Group

The Community Spotlight series highlights members of the NYU Sustainability community whose work advances equity, resilience, and justice in sustainability. Through in-depth conversations, we explore their research, teaching, and personal journeys that inspire meaningful change within and beyond the university.

2025 Community Spotlights

A Conversation with Prof. Tracy Chippendale

Prof. Chippendale reflects on her journey as a clinician-scientist working with older adults, and how their experiences shaped her commitment to aging in place, the role of mobility and public space in health equity, and why sustainability must include safe neighborhoods, parks, and transportation systems.

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A Conversation with Prof. Shondel Nero

Prof. Shondel Nero, Professor of Language Education, shares her journey from growing up in multilingual Guyana to becoming a leading scholar in language education, identity, and equity. She reflects on how personal experience shaped her commitment to linguistic justice, the role of language in sustainability and climate discourse, and the importance of centering diverse voices in education.

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A Conversation with Prof. Jorge Cuartas

Prof. Jorge Cuartas shares his journey from growing up in Colombia to becoming a scholar of child development, resilience, and social justice. He reflects on how personal experience and mentorship shaped his path, why climate change must be understood as a developmental challenge, and what it takes to bridge research with policy.

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A Conversation with Prof. Lara Saguisag

We spotlight Prof. Lara Saguisag, the Georgiou Chair in Children's Literature and Literacy at NYU Steinhardt. In a compelling conversation with Ran Mei, our graduate assistant and a doctoral student in Food Studies, Prof. Saguisag reflects on her path from children's book author to literary scholar and climate justice educator. She discusses how stories shape ecological awareness, the power of youth literature, and what it means to teach sustainability through a lens of justice, reciprocity, and resistance.

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