Meet the our new fellowship and its first recipient

Starting this fall, the Office of Sustainability along with the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning department will open a new fellowship.

The Fellowship focuses on building the capacity of frontline communities, those who experience the “first and worst” consequences of climate change, to prepare for, mitigate, and adapt to these impacts.

The Fellow will work in partnership with OOS (and other departments as needed) to complete a research project or other deliverable targeting an identified sustainability, equity, and justice need on campus.

Meet the inaugural 🍎APPLES🍎 Fellow!

Ashanee Kottage is a writer, theatermaker, dancer, community builder, and thinker – and starting this fall she will be the first recipient of the Accelerating Policy and Planning Leadership for Equity and Sustainability (APPLES) Fellowship.

This new fellowship is a partnership between the Office of Sustainability and the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning aimed at developing equity, justice, and sustainability-focused leaders from frontline communities that are most affected by climate change. The APPLES fellow receives a stipend, generous tuition scholarship, an internship with the Office of Sustainability, and programming to build leadership skills, develop networks, and enable socio-emotional learning.

Growing up in Sri Lanka has motivated Ashanee to pursue a sustainability education to help keep her home safe. In her own words: “A lot of Indigenous ways of living and taking care of the environment are still in place, but because it is a small island it is significantly under threat by climate change, sea level rise, and extreme heat.”

Ashanee recently completed a Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship at her alma mater, Georgetown University, where she studied Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a minor in Theatre and Performance Studies.

She is a collaborator on We Hear You – A Climate Archive, a project inspired by Greta Thundberg’s speech “Can you hear me” that amplifies the voice of 77 young people around the world through storytelling, workshops, and performance. Ashanee says, “It is so important to archive what is going on in this time and how we survived for future generations”.

As the first APPLES Fellow, she is excited to become a holistic sustainable leader. And as a self-published author who loves to inspire others to pursue climate action through the arts, Ashanee is hoping to share her expertise with other Jumbos this fall!