Environmental Humanities Grant Overview
This grant program funds projects that center the humanities in the study of environmental problems and the climate crisis. Incorporating social and cultural approaches into environmental and climate discussions can help critically examine taken-for-granted concepts from multiple angles and generate new forms of knowledge production. See the call for applications for more details.
This grant program is part of the Center for Science and Society's Co-Production of Knowledge Initiative. Funded by the Mellon Foundation.
2026 Awardees
Recipients
- Isatis Cintron-Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Researcher
- Sheila Foster, Professor of Climate
Description
- An investigation into the impacts of climate change, mass displacement, and disaster capitalism in Puerto Rico
- The project will build a digital atlas that incorporates community-created cartographies, oral histories, art, and a methodological toolkit for organizations looking to adapt this process.
Recipient
- Sage Molasky, Graduate Student in Playwriting
Description
- Death of a Fishmonger is a play that examines masculinity and grief as it relates to oceans and the climate crisis.
- Funds will support a research trip to interview scientists and fishermen.
- Supplementary events will facilitate conversations between theater makers and environmental scientists.
Recipients
- OreOluwa Badaki, Research Scholar
- Ty Holmberg, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Sankofa Community Farm
Description
- Explores the cultural, political, and ecological practices of seedkeeping at the Sankofa Community Farm in Philadelphia.
- Students will gather ethnographic and environmental data about seedkeeping practices. Data will be analyzed and shared through writing, theater, dance, and poetry performances.
Recipients
- Evie Otakan Anthony, Graduate Student in Climate
- Kristina Douglass, Associate Professor of Climate
- Leanne Phelps, Associate Research Scientist
- Divine Siam, Graduate Student in Climate
Description
- Instead of viewing database and archive construction as a technical exercise, this project views its development as a place for historical analysis, political negotiation, cultural practice, and community co-creation.
- The project will create a centralized database and archive of climate information and local knowledge in rural Madagascar.
Recipient
- Rachel Warner, Undergraduate Student in History and Environmental Biology
Description
- Supports the creation of a printed version of The Warbler, an undergraduate-led magazine focused on the connection between culture and nature in New York City through art, fiction writing, and interviews.
- Printed editions will be available across the Columbia University campus and local schools and libraries.
Recipient
- Iris de Rouvre, Graduate Student in Directing and Screenwriting
- Sophia Lim, Graduate Student in Creative Producing
Description
- Oysters are a central part of French traditions, but the stakes behind their production—the labor, environmental pressures, and water contamination risks—are largely unknown outside local communities.
- This short documentary will highlight these issues while showing how human survival, environmental health, and cultural heritage are intertwined.
2025 Grants Awardees
Recipients
- Ton-Nu Nguyen, Graduate Student in History
- Quynh Luong, Graduate Student in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Description
- A multidisciplinary approach to the study of rivers and the intersection of environmental engineering and nation-building.
- Artists and researchers will create an archive of essays, oral histories, performance, and research about the Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam in Vietnam.
Recipients
- Catherine Fennell, Associate Professor of Anthropology
- Andrew Bauer, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University
- Marcus de la Fleur, Landscape Architect
- Rebecca Graff, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Lake Forest College
- Shemuel Israel, President of North Lawndale Greening Committee
Description
- Uses anthropological and environmental methods to analyze the history of residential demolitions and its impact on the urban environment in Chicago.
- A public-facing excavation will also gather historical, environmental, and local histories.
- Local students will be trained in excavation methods.
Recipients
- Taylor Mitchell, Graduate Student in Anthropology
- Crina E. Tañongon, Assistant Professor of Communications at University of the Philippines Cebu
Description
- Helps to combat climate change and food insecurity through the revitalization of traditional food systems in Cebu, Philippines.
- Creation of an online seed archive documenting the techniques, cultures, and stories about Indigenous food practices through art, poetry, and research.