Introducing NEH Tier II Graduate Research Fellow Chedeya Brown

Chedeya is a doctoral student in the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. She will be working with Profs. Ellen Pearlstein and Glenn Wharton, and Research Facilitator Justine Wuebold on the National Endowment for the Humanities grant “Embedding Sustainability in Cultural Heritage Conservation Education” Initiative at the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in Conservation of Cultural Heritage. She will be researching barriers, drivers, and change dynamics for sustainability initiatives in higher education.

She is currently a summer fellow at Climate and Community Project, a progressive climate justice think tank, researching zonal decarbonization and natural gas decommissioning pathways for Chicago’s residential sector available in the Inflation Reduction Act and other federal, state, and local programs. She will also be a 2023-24 UCLA Sustainable L.A. Grand Challenge Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Fellow, working with the L.A. Mayor’s Office for a renewables buildout through direct pay in the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Previously, she was a 2022-23 National Science Foundation — Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) Trainee. As a trainee, she co-created a proposal for a co-located solar canal in collaboration with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). She was also a 2022 National Wildlife Federation Fellow investigating youth engagement in sustainable careers. She received her B.A. from UCLA in American Literature & Culture and Spanish. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted research on Green Gentrification in Barcelona. She most recently worked at Cypress Creek Renewables, a utility-scale solar energy firm as an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Associate. As an ESG associate, she led the ESG Council in the research and creation of the Company’s inaugural ESG report. In her free time, she enjoys running, looking after her basenji, Zuko, and maintaining her houseplants.