Summer 2014
Year: ILR '15
Cornell Activities/Groups/Affiliations/Leadership Roles:
- First Year Representative, ILR Graduate Students
- Association Member, Cornell Graduate Students United
- MILR Dean's Fellowship
Project: Trade Unions for Energy Democracy
Describe your research project: As a graduate research fellow at the Worker Institute, I work with Lara Skinner and Sean Sweeney on the Global Labor Institute project Trade Unions for Energy Democracy to develop and advance a labor movement vision for a democratic, low-carbon, and equitable energy system. There is currently a lot of energy in the labor movement around the climate crisis that will coalesce at the UN Global Climate Summit in September. TUED and the Worker Institute are on the frontline of that struggle.
What have you gotten out of the experience so far? It's been great working directly with senior union leaders from around the world to build TUED and raise awareness of the pressing issues of coal and fracking. The positive response has shown how allegiances to the eroding certainties of the carbon economy can be overcome in progressive circles.
What kind of student might be interested in a research fellowship at the Worker Institute? Someone who isn't afraid to dive right in and take the reins on a project or initiative.