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Agents of Change

@agentschangeej.bsky.social
284 followers 52 following 339 posts

Fostering diverse and inclusive leaders in environmental health. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (Director: Dr. Ami Zota) + Environmental Health News (Media Partner). agentsofchangeinej.org

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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 17h
Ami Zota studies how racialized beauty norms expose women of color to toxic chemicals in skin lighteners, hair relaxers, and other products. This fall, she joined the opening-night of a Braodway play and found an answer her data never gave her. Read her essay: amizota.substack.com/p/a-beauty-j...
amizota.substack.com
A beauty justice scientist walks onto a Broadway stage. Here’s what happens next.
Colorism, skin bleaching, and toxic chemicals have shaped my research for years. Seeing them on stage changed how I think about telling that story.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
⏰ ‼️The clock is ticking...make sure you submit your Cohort 7 application by 11:00 PM EST this Thursday, October 1! lnkd.in/eSVw5Eme agentsofchangeinej.org/apply/
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Maria José Talayero has spent almost a decade asking why chemical policy so rarely accounts for kids, and what happens in the countries that get left out of that conversation. Read our latest Substack on her findings here: agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com/p/the-chemic...
agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com
The chemicals your country bans don't disappear. They move to where the ban doesn't reach.
A decade of research on industrial pollution in Mexico, and a closer look at where banned chemicals end up, makes the case that environmental justice can't be understood one country at a time.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
We asked six past fellows one question: what did this program actually give you? 👀 Swipe to read the rave reviews → Cohort 7 applications close October 1st. Link in bio to apply. 🦋
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Missed our Cohort 7 Q&A webinar last week? Here is a recap of what was covered! 💻 ⏰ Applications close on October 1 -- we look forward to reading yours! 📧 Please email us for a recording of the webinar.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Last summer, geospatial scientist and AoC fellow Dr. Ufuoma Ovienmhada walked inside a prison in Missouri as part of a legal team building a case that the heat there is unconstitutional. She wrote the full account of that day. Read it here: agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com/p/what-it-ta...
agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com
What It takes to prove a Missouri prison is too hot to be legal
A scientist’s role in a lawsuit challenging extreme heat as cruel and unusual punishment.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Applications for AoC's Cohort 7 are now open! For our 2026-2027 fellowship cohort, our vision is to catalyze fellows’ research to policy translation. To achieve this vision, we are looking for individuals involved in a policy translation issue that intersects with their research expertise. 📄🌱
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Got questions about Cohort 7? We've got answers. 👇 Join Dr. Ami Zota (AoC Director) + Dr. April Ballard (AoC Senior Fellow) for a live Q&A on what it takes to get in, what a year in the fellowship looks like, and how to know if your work fits. 🔗 Link to register: www.linkedin.com/events/74905...
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Your research already has something to say. We're here to help you get it into the room. 🌱 Agents of Change is looking for the next generation of early-career environmental health researchers Applications close October 1, 2026. Apply here: agentsofchangeinej.org/apply/
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
⚽ While the World Cup has been in full swing, our fellows have been making their own game-changing contributions to environmental justice. ⭐ We present AoC's star-studded lineup for the month of July! Follow us along as we highlight our fellow's work every month.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Meet Timnit K., an environmental scientist, educator, and advocate who hopes to bring her research to the communities most affected by microplastics.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
🌍 How do you turn research into real-world impact? AoC fellow in residence April Ballard transformed her research on Atlanta public toilet access into meaningful policy action. 📑 Read this article to learn how April has inspired our fellowship's new direction as we seek our new class of fellows.
linkedin.com
This is how one of our own inspired our new direction
Back in 2019, when we started this program, what our program did was part of the zeitgeist. We solidified in the summer of 2020, when public conversations revolved around including new voices and face...
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Meet MyDzung Chu, an environmental health researcher and professor studying the health burdens faced by Asian American communities. 📊Her community-based research aims to turn numbers and data points into change.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
⭐️7️⃣ Something’s coming…stay tuned for what it could be!
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
🌻 This summer, our fellows are harvesting in every direction — from childhood lead poisoning disparities to PFAS contamination, immigration detention infrastructure, cycling equity, ancestral wisdom, and toxic beauty exposures.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
⭐️Next up in our AoC Fellows in Residence spotlight is Valerisa Gaddy:
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
This Pride Month, we're spotlighting research that fills a gap that has been ignored for too long. 🏳️‍🌈
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
🏞️The Colorado River Basin supplies water to millions of people across the Southwest. Yet, many indigenous communities continue to face barriers to reliable water access.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
🏞️ The Colorado River is shrinking. Join us next Tuesday, June 16th, from 2 PM to 3PM EST for a webinar exploring the critical state of the Colorado River, organized by Watershed Management Group. Presenters include AoC fellows in residence Valerisa Joe-Gaddy and Kevin Patterson.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
⚽🏆 The World Cup is starting this week. But people might not be paying attention to an important aspect of It: Toilets. 🚽
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
🧵 Pride and climate have everything to do with each other. Here's why — and why it matters right now. 🏳️‍🌈🌍 [1/9]
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! This June and beyond, keep an eye out for the work of queer environmental leaders and organizations advancing climate justice.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
🌡️ Did you know that heat waves are an environmental justice issue? According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the average heat-wave season in the US has increased by 46 days since the 1960s. 🔥
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
🥤 This Wednesday, May 20, Agents of Change and Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation co-hosted an online panel about re-imaging our relationship with plastic.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Our Fellow in Residence Timnit Kefela is a microplastics researcher who received a rare diagnosis — and found in it a reckoning with everything her field already knows and refuses to do. Read her essay: 🧵 agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com/p/i-learned-...
agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com
I Learned to See Invisible Plastics. The System Chose Not To.
A dwindling sight showed a microplastics researcher that a vision for our future was never only about the evidence in front of our eyes.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Plastic pollution is an environmental justice issue. From its production to its disposal, the harms of plastic are not shared equally. 🥤
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. 🌺 Agents of Change celebrates our fellows whose work and lives embody this year's AAPI Heritage Month theme: "Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together." 🤝
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
🌸 Spring is in full bloom, and so are our fellows with their recent inspirational achievements! Here is what some of our fellows have been up to:
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The same industries warming the planet are the ones putting chemicals in your shampoo bottle. It's not a coincidence. Thread 🧵🌎
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
🔬✨New Research Alert 🔬✨ Dr. Marissa Chan cataloged nearly 40,000 hair products across 117 stores in Boston. What she found connects a 1930s government policy to the products on beauty store shelves today. Keep reading. 🧵
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
‼️ Did you know that there are plastics in your couch, your carpet, your clothes, and even your water?
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
🎤 This Wednesday, April 1, AoC founder and director Dr. Ami Zota @amizota.bsky.social inaugurated the Mailman EHS Distinguished Professor Series with her lecture "Where Science Meets Justice: Environmental Health as a Catalyst for Social Change."
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Here is what a few of our fellows have been up to! We are proud to share some recent accomplishments of three AoC fellows:
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
🌍This week, from March 23 to 29, governments and organizations from around the world are gathering in Campo Grande, Brazil for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
⭐ We are excited to share that Dr. Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne @yoshira.bsky.social , Assistant Director of Agents of Change, was recently featured in the New York Times article "How to Reduce Your Exposure to Pesticides." 🔗 The article can be found on the NYT website: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/w...
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
💧Happy World Water Day! Here are six essays about water written by AoC fellows Valerisa Joe-Gaddy, Kevin Patterson, Liliana Sierra Castillo, JoRee LaFrance, Sabah Usmani, and Azmal Hossan.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
💧This Sunday, March 22 is World Water Day, an international observance day created by the United Nations to celebrate and highlight the importance of water.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
This March, we celebrate International Women’s Month by highlighting some of our fellows whose work and research promote environmental health and awareness for women across the nation and around the world.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Our fellows are doing the most (affectionate) 🏅 No medals — but the way they're out here changing environmental health research? they should have some. Meet the agents of change doing Olympic-level work 🧵👇
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Happy Black History Month! 🌳 In our third part of the series highlighting AoC fellows and historical changemakers who have contributed to environmental justice in Black communities, we learn about addressing toxic threats, standing up for food and land sovereignty, and environmental education.
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Reposted by Agents of Change
Project TENDR - Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks @projecttendr.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Dr. Ami Zota of Columbia will be one of the speakers at our Hill briefing next week. Join us: Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb 25, 11:30 AM ET. #neurotoxins #childrenshealth
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Reposted by Agents of Change
Project TENDR - Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks @projecttendr.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Tomorrow, Wed Feb 25, 11:30 AM ET: Join us on Capitol Hill for a briefing on how toxic chemicals are harming children's brains. Scientists are calling on Congress to protect children's health.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
🧵 The administration is coming for the law that keeps The chemicals in your home in check. Here's what you need to know.👇
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Happy Black History Month! In Part 2 of highlighting our fellows and prior change-makers who have led positive change, we learn about the power of engaging community members, inclusive urban planning, the dangers of hormone-altering chemicals, bridging art and science, and more.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
What are you reading right now? 📚 Over the past 5 years, we've asked every scholar, activist, journalist, and community leader who joined our podcast that one question. This Black History Month, here's what they said. 🖤🧵
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Happy Black History Month! AoC honors our fellows whose research has advanced environmental justice in African American communities, as well as activists and scholars whose past work continues to inspire change. 🌟
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Last week, our fellow Timnit Kefela spent 5 days inside the UN negotiating global chemical policy. Here's what went down 🧵✨
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
🌎This week, a newly established environmental panel is meeting for the first time in Geneva, and it could shape how the world responds to chemical pollution. Agents of Change fellow @timisneat.bsky.social is currently attending this conference—stay tuned for some on-the-ground updates soon!
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Most research pitches don’t fail on quality. They fail on clarity. We asked editors at Nature, Undark, and The Conversation what makes them say yes—and turned it into a quick checklist. Read it here👇 substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Read This Before You Pitch Your Research
Three editors break down what actually makes them say yes—and what makes them quietly close the tab.
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Agents of Change @agentschangeej.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
✨ Fellows Doing the Most (in a good way) aka: what our fellows have been quietly (and not-so-quietly) working on lately 👇🧵
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