Finding Strength in Collaboration for Climate Action

Growth comes in different forms and this summer I have grown to be more detail-oriented and collaborative.

My name is Vanessa Amasi and I am a rising senior pursuing a B.S. in Sustainability Sciences. After enrolling in the Geographic Informations Systems (GIS) course earlier this year, I got to put my skills to use this summer by working with Shi’s Applied Research Team to promote public transit in Greenville County.

Working on this project meant utilizing GIS tools to create walksheds and bikesheds that show how accessible bus stops are to their users. Given the low popularity of public transport in Greenville, we aim to promote it in order to improve reliability of public transit. This project is important because it sheds light to the challenges and successes of Greenville’s public transport system and encourages more people to utilize and invest funds in this resource.

As a Sustainability major, I am passionate about urban sustainability especially in the fields of climate resilience, alternative transportation, and the urban heat island effect. Throughout my fellowship, I focused on the alternative transportation aspect by working directly with Greenville Connect to promote Greenlink’s bus services. The project came with lots of brainstorming, team meetings, collaboration with other student fellows, and screen time; nevertheless the process was very rewarding!

Outside my office station, I have gotten the opportunity to hold meaningful conversations and exchange innovative ideas with multiple fellows in my cohort.

When working on our first project, I collaborated with Aruzhan Sakhariyanova (Heat Adaptation fellow), Riya Lala (Communications & Outreach Fellow), and Tanya Masvimbo (Climate Resilience Analyst Fellow) to create visually appealing content that communicates the importance of investing in public transit to a vast audience. This process ranged from designing the web dashboard to creating graphics and icons for display on the dashboard. I was eager to combine creative thinking and technical strategies in bringing this project to life!

From our first-day of orientation to our weekly fellow meetings, the fellows’ interactions with one another have successfully contributed to my learning and collaborative action.

The Shi fellowships provide room for multidisciplinary students to come together and challenge current systems that suppress climate action. Surely, our fellowships have cultivated within us a strong passion for the environment and people who are vulnerable to the risks of climate change.

As I approach the end of my fellowship, I am excited for the transition to classes because of all the skills and knowledge that I have required by interning for the applied research team. Thank you Shi and the Applied Research Team for an enriching summer!