Craig Santos Perez is an Indigenous Chamoru (Chamorro) from Guam who is an associate professor of the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa’s English department. He teaches eco-poetry — poetry that addresses environmental disaster — and creative writing and Pacific literature. The body of his poetry and scholarship seeks to explore the environmental urgency of our time and the impacts of human activity and global capitalism on ecology.

Idowu “Jola” Ajibade is an assistant professor of geography at Portland State University. She uses an environmental justice and political ecology lens to study the intersection of climate adaptation, urban sustainability and societal transformation.

Sarah Aarons is an earth scientist and assistant professor in the Geosciences Research Division of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. She can speak about the effects of global climate change, the patterns of weather throughout history, and decolonizing science.

Philip Higuera is an associate professor in the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana, where he leads the PaleoEcology and Fire Ecology Lab.

Tony G. Reames is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, where he directs the Urban Energy Justice Lab. He’s an expert in energy justice and can provide insight into the racial and economic disparities surrounding access to energy in the United States.

Ernesto Alvarado is a research associate professor of wildland fire sciences in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. He’s an expert on fire ecology and management, and can provide insight on the role climate change plays in wildfires and what we should do to better manage forests.

Kiho Kim is a professor of environmental science at American University. A marine biologist, Kim’s work focuses on the ecology of coral reefs, and how environmental drivers, such as climate change and nutrient pollution, impact coastal ecosystem health. At the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Kim has examined the origins and spreading of diseases.

Regina Shih is the director of the Social and Behavioral Policy Program and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Previously, she led the Climate Change and Health Group at RAND. Her research areas are aging policy, environmental health and behavioral health.

Maxine Burkett is a professor of law at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa, and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She is also the co-founder and senior advisor to the nonprofit Institute for Climate and Peace.

Mustafa Santiago Ali is vice president of environmental justice, climate and community revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. He is founder of the consultancy Revitalization Strategies and an expert in environmental justice and economic equity.

Nicole Hernandez Hammer is the environmental scientist at UPROSE. Her work focuses on the mobilization of the Latino community to better understand and address climate change, and she speaks across the country on climate change, environmental justice issues, and her experiences as a Guatemalan immigrant.

Erika Zavaleta is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She directs the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program and the CAMINO (Center to Advance Mentored, Inquiry-based Opportunities) at UCSC. In 2021, she was appointed by the governor to the California Fish and Game Commission.