Climate Researcher to Sit with First Lady During State of the Union

Michelle Obama’s guest for the State of the Union address will be:

a) female

b) Hispanic

c) Climate Scientist

d) all of the above

I’ve noted before that demographically important Hispanics are much more concerned about climate change than white voters.

The Hill:

A climate change and sea-level rise researcher will sit with first lady Michelle Obama during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

Nicole Hernandez Hammer’s research focuses on “how cities and regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change also have large concentrations of Hispanics,” the White House said Monday.

Hammer, an immigrant from Guatemala, lives in southeast Florida, where much of her research is focused.

She also leads efforts in her area for the Union of Concerned Scientists and Moms Clean Air Force. She is among 21 guests planning to attend President Obama’s speech with the first lady.

Outreach to minorities has been a priority for Obama and his administration as part of his second-term push to fight climate change.

Officials have also put an emphasis on sea-level rise, which scientists believe to be an inevitable consequence of human-induced climate change.

WhiteHouse.gov:

As a sea-level researcher, Nicole Hernandez Hammer has studied how the cities and regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise also have large Hispanic populations — something she learned firsthand growing up in South Florida

A Guatemalan immigrant with Cuban heritage, today Nicole works to mobilize the Latino community to better understand and address climate change’s disproportionate effects on the health of Hispanics.

Most recently, that means working with Moms Clean Air Force to increase public awareness of climate change on children’s health specifically.

Nicole lives in Southeast Florida with her husband and her son.

Part of the work I do involves giving sea-level rise tours of South Florida to reporters, politicians, and other scientists. As important as it is to show people what is at risk, the truth is, I really do not enjoy giving these tours. I dislike pointing out areas that now regularly flood, and will be underwater in my lifetime. To me, it’s not just any place — it’s my home.

On these tours, I drive by the beaches were I hung out as teenager, my family’s favorite Cuban restaurant, the church where I was married and the building where I was sworn in as a citizen and promised my allegiance to this country. They matter to me because they are a part of who I am and I am saddened and angry that they will be lost.

For me, these tours have become a kind of long goodbye. I know that for many of these places we can’t stop the impacts but I have hope that maybe we can find ways to adapt to them. Because of my work, I face these issues on a more frequent and personal level than most, but this will also change. It will soon be a reality for us all in one way or another.

In fact, some of my colleagues are writing up their “climate change bucket lists.” These are spots that we know are very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and may not be around by the next turn of the century. I keep a copy of my list on my desk at home, it is my motivation to keep doing the work I do.

It gives me hope that maybe we can still prevent the worst.