Jonathan Bacdayan's climate anxiety was so intense when he arrived on campus his freshman year that he attended a East Northeast met before even entering a classroom.
Since then, he has tried to translate his anxiety into action, including helping to lead Divest Northeasterna group that advocates for the school to divest its endowment from fossil fuel companies, among others.
Despite years of work, the recent environmental studies graduate is still fed up with what he sees as Northeastern's lack of commitment to sustainable investment. But that doesn't mean he'll stop trying.
“I'm a very anxious person normally, but I think the anxiety about the climate and I have come to an understanding,” said Bacdayan, who graduated in May. “I don't let it stop me. I've channeled it into a mindset of just doing something.”
Next year, Bacdayan plans to pursue a master's degree in environmental science and policy while working for Northeastern University's Arboretum, where he completed his second fellowship. Although Bacdayan is busy with work and planning for life after graduation, he looks forward to continuing to contribute to Sunrise and Divest Northeastern.
Bacdayan is far from alone in his pursuit of measurable progress on climate action. He's one of many students across the country who are channeling their love of nature — and, at the same time, their anxiety about climate change — into a movement.
“There are a lot of students who are passionate about what they want to make a difference,” said Annalisa Onnis-Hayden, vice chancellor for undergraduate studies in civil and environmental engineering. “They're not afraid to step out of their comfort zone and talk to the people who are making the changes, so I think that creates a community.”
Sanshray Kukutla, a first-year political science major in the pre-med school, began feeling anxious about the climate early in high school. Spurred by rising temperatures, pollution in his native India, and smoke billowing from wildfires in Canada in the summer of 2023, he knew something had to be done.
“It's when you have in your head like doomsday and you're like, 'It's not getting fixed,'” Kukutla said of his climate anxiety. “That's something that drives you into activism. What got me into activism was seeing that doing something actively about climate change and flooding helps to quell my anxiety.”
Like Bacdayan, Kukutla joined Sunrise when he arrived on campus, but was active in national Sunrise Movement since the end of high school. Since joining the youth political action organization, she has organized protests and helped “vote camaraderie” by mobilizing congressional support for climate policy and supporting political campaigns for representatives who support sustainability reforms. Now, Kukutla is focused on a policy solution that includes President Joe Biden.
“The biggest idea being promoted right now is the climate emergency campaign,” said Kukutla, who was was arrested in February along with 20 others who tried to get into President Biden's campaign headquarters and talk to his staff about campaign promises around clean energy and climate change. “So right now, we're trying to convince President Biden to declare a climate emergency and address the climate crisis with green union jobs that invest in our communities, end the fossil fuel era, and pay for climate disasters.” .
Kukutla also serves as the hub coordination liaison and action lead at Sunrise, planning protests and teaching events around campus and Boston in coordination with the Boston University, Boston College and Simmons University Sunrise chapters. One policy that has been at the forefront of his work with the team is the Green New Deala plan pursued by many college climate organizations.
“The Green New Deal is a set of policies that would make better transitions for clean energy, transportation and also for affordable housing,” Koukoutla said. “Any new agreement for Northeastern to implement that would change certain policies would make Northeastern a more sustainable campus overall and make it a better healthy place to live for everyone.”
Along with advocating for systemic change, climate organizations such as Divest Northeastern, Sunrise and Husky Environmental Action Team, or HEAT, are also working on ways to educate students about climate change and engage them in taking action. In addition to its weekly meetings, HEAT—the largest environmental group on campus—hosts an energy-saving contest among certain residence halls each fall called “Do It In The Dark.”
Students are encouraged to participate in an incubator at HEAT, where they can help an initiative or start their own. One of the most successful projects HEAT worked on was Composting at Northeastern, or CANU, which sponsored composting bins in several dormitories on campus and plans to expand bin access to all students year-round. Another of the group's initiatives is Sustainabilitywhich is working to replace one of the current NUpath requirements with one focused on sustainability and ended up passing the Student Government Association referendum this past spring semester. Conscious Generation, or GENCO, is focused on distributing disposable laundry detergent sheets to those in need. The minority-owned business has launched an incubator with HEAT to provide laundry detergent sheet refill stations inside residence halls and plans to launch on campus by 2025.
Alegra Germain, who graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in environmental science and sustainability, has been working as the head of media for Sunrise for three semesters. In coordination with Kukutla and the action team, promoted Sunrise campaigns by designing graphics, flyers and social media posts.
“It was really cool that it helped me put the way I see Northeastern, Boston in a different context and [what] Our place is in the larger community,” said Germain, who has been involved with Sunrise for four and a half months.
Germain had always planned to study the environment or wildlife in college. However, her first collaboration with the Northeastern Arboretum sparked a new curiosity. Between planting and integrating new plants, planning events for students on campus, and working with Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, she was excited by the impact of urban nature on nature connection and eco-conscious consumer behavior.
“The co-op also changed the way I look at nature,” said Germain, who turned her curiosity into research and has been working in Northeastern's environmental psychology lab since last summer and plans to continue until graduation this summer. “I think for a while I didn't really include people [as a contributing part of nature]. I used to think of humans as just destructive forms, but having all this background in urban nature now has really helped reframe my understanding of nature and my appreciation of it in urban areas.”
Climate activists and changemakers at Northeastern are not alone in their passion for climate study, activism, and creating solutions. They join hands with a community of climate activists around the world. Since they start at a younger age, they benefit the movement, research shows.
“Youth participation helps build broad and inclusive movements, laying the groundwork for success and inclusive democratic reforms during political transitions,” said social scientist Matthew D. Cebul in his analysis “Youth Activism: Balancing Risk and Reward.”
Cebul, a researcher for the United States Peace Foundation program on nonviolent action, said young activists are particularly creative in their ability to bring together groups of diverse cultural or ideological differences under one roof. Through regular connectivity through digital platforms combined with less resistance to breaking social norms than their older peers, they cultivate the creative fuel that drives interest in their reforms.
Lilly Smith, a third-year environmental engineering student, found a way to contribute to the cause through solution-based research through its collaboration at Sublime Systemsa company working on the decarbonisation of the cement industry.
“Climate change is happening, and a lot of times we hear that new things are happening, but we're not very close to fixing it… In a lot of environmental science or environmental engineering classes, I felt like we were learning different things were going wrong with the environment and other ways that we couldn't fix it,” he said.
Instead of sitting in fear or anxiety about climate change, Smith shared her desire to find real solutions and inspire others to do the same. Outside of the cooperative, she contributes in her spare time reNU, a new Northeastern club, teaching college students about the technical development of renewable energy sources. In addition, he helps the club design a windmill that they plan to enter Department of Energy Collective Wind Competition this summer.
Smith credited Northeastern with enabling her to pursue solving climate problems and her passion for environmental engineering. She believes her experiences at school and in the field will give her “a leg up in the real world.”
“I was able to get a taste of the entire energy industry at the last co-op, and this co-op, I'm able to get hands-on experience,” said Smith, who has already started thinking about her career path. “I'm really able to say what I like and what I don't like, and I've had those experiences since college.”