One of the biggest campaigns I worked for during my NYPIRG internship was advocating climate change action. This was notably the most demanding campaign I had to work on because my team and I invested a lot of time and hours of outreach, mainly through phone banking, in preparation for the biggest event of the campaign which was ECOFEST, a college wide event in celebration of Earth Day. Held by the sustainability department, ECOFEST is a public forum for students, faculty, staff and guest speakers, come together to share and discuss ideas about CityTech and environmental sustainability. The event creates a space for all parties to reflect on the planet, learn about the realities of climate change and the sustainable alternatives to bring into our everyday lives and what actions we can take to help save the planet. The day-long was held virtually and featured numerous speakers who were each allotted a segment during the which they addressed the various topics on climate change. The speakers spoke up the problems caused by climate change and how those affect us in our everyday lives unbeknownst to us, and the solutions we can start implementing in our lives to reverse and remedy the ongoing disasters.

Out of all the segments of the event, my favorite one was by Dr. Reginald Blake, who according to the CUNY Remote Sensing Earth System Institute, is the interim Associate Provost and Dean of Curriculum and Research at the New York University of Technology (CityTech). He is also the Co- Director of the Center for Remote Sensing and Earth Systems Sciences (ReSESS) at CityTech. His research interests consist of satellite application and ground based remote sensing to study hydro-climate, hurricanes, and air pollution. The reason I liked Dr. Reginald Blake segment is because as someone who was clueless to climate change prior to the event, he educated me on the issue in way that my novice mind could easily digest, breaking it down at the basic level. The biggest thing I learned during his segment is that climate and weather are two different things, both things I thought were one and the same. This along with his other teachings on the greenhouse effect, were very insightful because it definitely gave me basic yet solid understanding of what this event and the campaign, I had been working on was all about and how it truly advocates for an issue in dire need of resolution.

Furthermore, as a Black man, I felt proud and inspired to witness another Black man taking center stage and demonstrating his intellect at such an important event. After having read his interview with the CUNY Remote Sensing Earth System Institute in honor of Black History Month, Dr. Reginald Blake has managed to transcend his Blackness beyond the stereotypical fields we usually are known for and thrive in, sports and entertainment. He navigates and operates in a field, in which his Black identity positions him as a minority but he does not allow that to have him “settle in mediocrity” and strive for excellence. As a Black graphic designer who aims to operate in an equally unfavorable industry to Black people, Dr. Reginald Blake to me stands as a testimony that if there’s a will then there’s a way, and this is teaching I definitely will apply in my own career path.

          All in all, albeit long, I did enjoy my time at ECOFEST, learning about ways to protect and revive our planet.