Shaping a Sustainable Future: Climate Justice, Policy, and Diplomacy in Action
Understanding and connecting STEM and social justice to solve community problems is at the core of Our Future Is Science initiatives. In a January 16th, 2025 talk, Rueanna Haynes and Jacqueline Patterson discuss how to create a sustainable future through climate activism.
Rueanna Haynes is an experienced international climate law and governance specialist. She has a strong background in climate and other multilateral environmental negotiations, having participated in the UNFCCC for several years on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago. She has also been a lead negotiator for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and G77 and China in the climate and sustainable development fields. In addition, she has significant experience in international negotiation processes of key importance to SIDS including the Sustainable Development Goals, Financing for Development, the Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as the SIDS Sustainable Development process.
Rueanna holds a Master in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington, DC, US and a Master in International Environmental Policy from Scences Po, Paris, France.
Jacqueline Patterson is the Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Since 2007 Patterson has served as coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United. Jacqui Patterson has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate, and activist working on women’s rights, violence against women, HIV & AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice. Patterson served as a Senior Women’s Rights Policy Analyst for ActionAid where she integrated a women’s rights lens for the issues of food rights, macroeconomics, and climate change as well as the intersection of violence against women and HIV & AIDS. Previously, she served as Assistant Vice President of HIV/AIDS Programs for IMA World Health, providing management and technical assistance to medical facilities and programs in 23 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Patterson served as the Outreach Project Associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Research Coordinator for Johns Hopkins University. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica, West Indies.
Patterson’s publication and articles include: “Jobs vs Health: An Unnecessary Dilemma,” “Climate Change is a Civil Rights Issue,” “Gulf Oil Drilling Disaster: Gendered Layers of Impact,” “Disasters, Climate Change Uproot Women of Color,” “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People,” “Just Energy Policies: Reducing Pollution, Creating Jobs,” “And the People Shall Lead: Centralizing Frontline Community Leadership in the Movement Towards a Sustainable Planet,” the chapter “Equity in Disasters: Civil and Human Rights Challenges in the Context of Emergency Events” in the book Building Community Resilience Post-Disaster, and the chapter “A Circuitous Path to Climate Justice” in the book All We Can Save.
Patterson holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves on the Steering Committee for the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, the Advisory Board for the Center for Earth Ethics, as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Institute of the Black World, The Hive: Gender and Climate Justice Fund, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, Greenpeace, the Bill Anderson Fund, the People’s Solar Energy Fund, and the National Black Workers Center Project.
The Community Talk Series is a platform to expose individuals to diverse careers, as well as information, insights, and perspectives on the intersections of STEM disciplines and social justice issues.
This event is organized by Our Future Is Science, an initiative of the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program.