# Climate Economics Journalism Fellowship ![Plants Growing Out of Money ](/sites/default/files/styles/866w/public/2024-03/adobestock_587687765.jpeg?h=77b85495&itok=PTM4jxGs) ## Climate Economics Journalism Fellows --- ## Overview **Climate Economics for Journalists: An NYU Stern Fellowship** Climate change is transforming the economy as quickly and profoundly as it is reshaping the planet. For journalists who want to deepen their climate coverage, understanding these sometimes cryptic economic and financial shifts is as important as understanding the science and politics behind climate change. The NYU Stern Climate Economics Journalism Fellowship will bring a group of journalists to NYU Stern’s Greenwich Village campus to learn from globally recognized experts in the emerging field of climate economics. Participants will discuss the fundamental factors and latest trends in climate economics and finance. The next cohort of the Fellowship will meet in New York City on September 17 and 18, 2026. ## Applications Applications for the Fellowship are open, and will close on April 20, 2026. Fellowship recipients will be contacted by late May 2026. To apply, please submit a CV, cover letter, and examples of your work [here](https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_87xTzuYm5ssUqmq). ## FAQs Show All | Hide All What can I expect? A two-day in-person series of academic and social events at NYU Stern’s Greenwich Village campus. The program is designed for journalists interested in better understanding the interactions between climate change, financial markets, and the broader economy. Taught by NYU faculty, the Fellowship aims to provide participants with both the fundamental factors and latest trends in climate economics and finance. Who can participate in the Fellowship? Applications are open to and welcome from all journalists (both reporters and editors, and including freelancers) interested in covering the interface between climate and the economy. While aspects of the course have a focus on U.S. policies and institutions, we also welcome applications from journalists based outside the United States. NYU Stern will select the final group of Fellows based on the documents submitted by applicants including the letter of motivation. When and where will the program take place? The Fellowship dates are September 17–18, 2026. The following week is [Climate Week NYC](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.climateweeknyc.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=vzDClAuHBnyiQs_Ntw4cnc4VCiyiHAtjD9iPY4cJU1U&m=OYqXYsN4l2pzzdnlvlnQPz9vCr1idX3N0mlGKyaOuZDa2FDy2S1RdWj7C4F-rlMe&s=vf_ZLx2St892yuRdeWVpJiH3WsGw7xMBnWf304M_2rA&e=), providing numerous coverage opportunities. The Program’s activities will take place at NYU Stern’s Greenwich Village campus in New York City. Will I have any costs to participate in the Fellowship? All the costs of operating the program including all meals will be borne by NYU Stern. In addition, Fellows admitted to the program who reside outside the New York Metro Area will receive a $2,000 stipend to cover travel and accommodation costs; those residing inside the New York Metro Area will receive a $1,000 stipend. Depending on your residency status, the Fellowship payment may be subject to tax withholding. Please see [here](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/withholding-federal-income-tax-on-scholarships-fellowships-and-grants-paid-to-aliens) for details. Who is funding the Fellowship? The Fellowship is fully funded by NYU Stern, and there is no corporate or advocacy-group sponsorship. What topics will you cover? The sessions cover the fundamental economics and latest trends in climate economics. Prior training in economics is not required. Topics include: - How Climate Change is Roiling the Housing and Insurance Markets - Climate Risks to Financial Stability - How Climate Change is Altering Corporate Decision Making - The Economics of Climate Regulation + Carbon Markets - Biodiversity Loss as an Emerging Economic Risk - The Fast-Changing Economics of Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicles - Emerging Regulatory and Legislative Trends in Climate Finance and Economics Within these topics, we will consider urgent questions such as: Why are home insurance markets breaking down across the U.S.? What’s a carbon border adjustment mechanism and how might it affect global trade? How do cap-and-trade systems work? How do you calculate the Social Cost of Carbon, and why does it matter? What are the problems with carbon offsets, and how might they be solved? What are the economic and financial market effects of nature and biodiversity loss? How do the economics of renewable energy markets work? Dan Fagin will lead a discussion of the challenges of reporting on the interactions between climate change and the economy. There will be social events to allow for plenty of opportunities to get to know the other fellows and faculty in an informal setting. Who will be teaching in the Fellowship? Fellowship sessions are taught by faculty from across NYU who will be leading discussions closely related to their academic research. A list of fellowship faculty is presented below. Who is organizing the Fellowship? The Fellowship is organized by the Climate Finance Initiative at NYU Stern, under the leadership of Professor Johannes Stroebel. The steering committee includes NYU Stern Professor Theresa Kuchler and Professor Dan Fagin from NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Does the Fellowship make me an NYU student? No, this is not an NYU degree program, and participation will not make you an NYU student. Who can I contact for more information? You can contact us at [climate\_reporting\_fellowship@stern.nyu.edu](mailto:climate_reporting_fellowship@stern.nyu.edu). ## Fellowship Faculty [ ![Picture of Johannes Stroebel](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/Untitled%20design%20%281%29.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=JweVrciz) ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/johannes-stroebel) ### Fellowship Director & Instructor: Johannes Stroebel David S. Loeb Professor of Finance, NYU Stern Director, NYU Stern Climate Finance Initiative [Johannes Stroebel Full Bio](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/johannes-stroebel) --- [ ![Photo of Theresa Kuchler](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/8.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=0-ljfW5q) ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/theresa-kuchler) ### Steering Committee Member & Fellowship Instructor: Theresa Kuchler Professor of Finance, NYU Stern [Theresa Kuchler Full Bio](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/theresa-kuchler) --- [ ![Photo of Dan Fagin](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/7.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=LmWam1af) ](https://danfagin.com/) ### Steering Committee Member & Fellowship Instructor: Dan Fagin Professor of Journalism, New York University Director, NYU Science, Health & Environmental Reporting Program [Dan Fagin Full Bio](https://danfagin.com/) --- [ ![Photo of Viral Acharya](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/6.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=bytap1Kb) ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/viral-acharya) ### Fellowship Instructor: Viral Acharya C.V. Starr Professor of Economics, NYU Stern Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India [Viral Acharya Full Bio](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/viral-acharya) --- [ ![Photo of Shan Ge](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/4.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=sQsLRRFx) ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/shan-ge) ### Fellowship Instructor: Shan Ge Assistant Professor of Finance, NYU Stern [Shan Ge Full Bio](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/shan-ge) --- [ ![Photo of Bryce Rudyk](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/5.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=fCSz-wVF) ](https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=33242) ### Fellowship Instructor: Bryce Rudyk Adjunct Professor of Law, NYU Law School Director, International Environmental Law Program Director, UN Diplomacy Clinic [Bryce Rudyk Full Bio](https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=33242) --- [ ![Photo of Dan Gode](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2024-03/3.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=Pf2RaVLd) ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/dhananjay-gode) ### Fellowship Instructor: Dan Gode Clinical Professor of Accounting, NYU Stern [Dan Gode Full Bio](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/dhananjay-gode) --- [ ![Derek Sylvan.](/sites/default/files/styles/480w_x_543h/public/2025-02/cropped_circle_on_background_adjusted.png?h=8bf06de7&itok=UjqwmoHy) ](https://policyintegrity.org/about/bio/derek-sylvan) ### Fellowship Instructor: Derek Sylvan Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies, New York University Strategy Director, Institute for Policy Integrity [Derek Sylvan Full Bio](https://policyintegrity.org/about/bio/derek-sylvan) --- ## 2026 Fellows ![aditi_rajagopal_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/aditi_rajagopal_headshot.jpg?h=0764f6ae&itok=v6XzNZ9g) ## Aditi Rajagopal Aditi Rajagopal is a reporter, presenter, and filmmaker from South India, based in Berlin, where she mainly works with Deutsche Welle. She has been supported by the Pulitzer Center, and her deep-research videos on all things climate—from tidal power to biodiversity to doomerism—have garnered tens of millions of views on YouTube, TikTok, and TV broadcasts. ![adriana_peurez_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/adriana_peurez_headshot_0.jpg?h=7bcf903e&itok=cqOe6GYx) ## Adriana Pérez Adriana Pérez is an environment reporter at the Chicago Tribune, where she covers the Great Lakes and water issues, climate change, environmental justice, extreme weather, invasive species and wildlife. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, she joined the Tribune in 2022 and has also reported on breaking news and contributed to the paper's Pulitzer Prize-winning immigration coverage. ![alex_baumhardt_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/alex_baumhardt_headshot.jpg?h=03707814&itok=IaF_mnnI) ## Alex Baumhardt Alex Baumhardt is a senior reporter at the Oregon Capital Chronicle. She was previously a national radio producer covering education for American Public Media's documentaries and investigations unit. She earned a master's degree in media as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Spain and has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media. ![ali_withers_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/ali_withers_headshot.jpg?h=f7e49269&itok=c6LR4cGf) ## Ali Withers Ali Withers is an energy reporter in Denmark for Montel News. She was a senior climate producer for Reuters, with coverage spanning AMOC collapse, extreme heat, climate litigation, and global climate negotiations. Previously, she was a video journalist in New York for Bloomberg News and NBC News. She consults on film scripts and documentaries about climate change. ![aliya_uteuova_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/aliya_uteuova_headshot.jpeg?h=a4a90a74&itok=Aa-VdIGj) ## Aliya Uteuova Aliya Uteuova is a New York City-based data journalist at the Guardian. She covers climate and environmental justice, with a particular focus on extreme heat, data centers, and the renewable energy transition. She holds a master's degree in data journalism from Columbia University. Born in Kazakhstan, Aliya received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine. ![allison_meakem_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/allison_meakem_headshot.jpeg?h=c7dfcf47&itok=Ldni4Hfh) ## Allison Meakem Allison Meakem is a senior editor at Foreign Policy, where she leads the magazine's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean. She previously reported for Süddeutsche Zeitung and received the 2024 Arthur F. Burns Award for her writing about Germany. She has a degree in international relations from Brown University and speaks Arabic, English, French, German, and Spanish. ![ashley_miznazi_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/ashley_miznazi_headshot.jpg?h=cd2a7045&itok=VNACLcFh) ## Ashley Miznazi Ashley Miznazi is a multimedia reporter for the Miami Herald's climate team, which covers how South Florida adapts to a warmer and wetter world. ![austyn_gaffney_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/austyn_gaffney_headshot.jpeg?h=89bd7985&itok=AJtqbef5) ## Austyn Gaffney Austyn Gaffney is a reporter covering climate, energy, and agriculture. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and other publications. She is currently a 2026–27 Alicia Patterson Fellow with the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Originally from Canada, she lives in Kentucky. ![chiara_eisner_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/chiara_eisner_headshot.jpg?h=9dc95b1d&itok=d4Ppg8c8) ## Chiara Eisner Chiara Eisner's investigative reports for NPR across the beats of immigration, climate and criminal justice have led to congressional action and regulatory changes, and have been honored with national print, broadcast, and video awards. ![deep_vakil_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/deep_vakil_headshot.jpg?h=dcff87f0&itok=O2c64lIT) ## Deep Vakil Deep Vakil is a New York City-based investigative reporter covering climate, business, and politics. He is currently a reporting fellow at Columbia Journalism Investigations and previously covered commodities and energy markets for Reuters. Originally from India, Deep's climate reporting has also appeared in Inside Climate News, WIRED, New York Focus, and Virginia Mercury. ![elham_shirin_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/elham_shirin_headshot.jpeg?h=71976bb4&itok=sShdJlQ3) ## Elham Shirin Elham Shirin is a reporter covering nature, culture, and climate change. Her work has appeared in CBC News, PBS, and The New Republic. She has reported on mining, wildfires, conservation, immigration, and public transit from the U.S., Rwanda, Thailand, India, and South Africa. A Pulitzer Center-supported journalist, she holds degrees from Yale and NYU. ![eli_flesch_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/eli_flesch_headshot.jpg?h=10d28094&itok=DURPDYfX) ## Eli Flesch Eli Flesch is a senior reporter at Law360 who covers insurance and climate change. His work analyzes major legal and environmental trends affecting households and businesses in the U.S. and globally, with a focus on access to insurance and the insurance industry's role in the climate crisis. He lives in New York City. ![emily_payne_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/emily_payne_headshot.png?h=c049771e&itok=TaOPy7In) ## Emily Payne Emily Payne is an independent journalist in Denver, Colorado, and an editor at the Estes Valley Voice, a journalist-founded, independent local newsroom. She has covered food, agriculture, health, and climate for more than a decade, interviewing farmers from California to Senegal. Her work has appeared in Inside Climate News, Sentient Media, Colorado Public Radio, and other outlets. ![emmanuel_felton_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/emmanuel_felton_headshot.png?h=f405c703&itok=tvlKh3xS) ## Emmanuel Felton Emmanuel Felton is a freelance investigative journalist covering how race and racism shape American politics and policy. Formerly the race and ethnicity reporter at The Washington Post, he is currently writing *The Search for Black Mecca* (HarperCollins), a book on the Great Migration and its reversal. ![fernanda_perrin_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/fernanda_perrin_headshot.png?h=411465c0&itok=6PBhd8_x) ## Fernanda Perrin Fernanda Perrin is a Brazilian journalist and political scientist based in New York. As U.S. correspondent for Folha de S.Paulo, she covered climate finance, carbon markets, and meetings of the UN, IMF, and World Bank, alongside the 2024 U.S. election. She previously served as the newspaper's Business & Economics deputy editor, overseeing Brazil's political, economic, and environmental coverage. ![gabe_castro-root_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/gabe_castro-root_headshot.jpg?h=0cae64ec&itok=jcpy0obp) ## Gabe Castro-Root Gabe Castro-Root is a freelance journalist based in New York. He was a 2025–26 reporting fellow at The New York Times, where he covered the travel industry. Before that, he reported on extreme weather, climate change and public health for outlets including National Geographic, Bloomberg Law, Smithsonian Magazine, and Inside Climate News. He graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. ![hannah_fisher_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/hannah_fisher_headshot.jpg?h=28827b99&itok=8G4r0Boa) ## Hannah Fisher Hannah Fisher is a freelance audio producer and reporter specializing in science. She has produced programs and podcasts for the BBC, The Economist, Audible and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Her reporting has explored polar skies, bioluminescent organisms, Burmese pythons and underground seed banks. Her investigation of Puerto Rican coastal erosion won a 2024 UNCA Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize. ![jackie_snow_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/jackie_snow_headshot.jpg?h=d627821a&itok=gbDHtLuR) ## Jackie Snow Jackie Snow is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, and IEEE Spectrum. She covers technology, conservation, and the environment, with recent reporting on Colorado River modeling, AI applications in historical research, and open-source robotics. She is working on a book about conservation technology and lives in Los Angeles. ![jake_bittle_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/jake_bittle_headshot.jpeg?h=adc49cf7&itok=YZ0kowtb) ## Jake Bittle Jake Bittle is a staff writer at Grist, where he covers climate change and energy. He is the author of *The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration* and a forthcoming book about the energy transition in Kern County, California. ![jordan_wolman_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/jordan_wolman_headshot.jpg?h=ba226ffe&itok=YuwZkVky) ## Jordan Wolman Jordan Wolman is a senior reporter at CommonWealth Beacon covering climate and energy issues in Massachusetts. Before moving to Boston, Jordan spent four years at POLITICO in Washington, D.C., where he covered the intersection of climate policy and business. A New Jersey native, Jordan graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and launched the first investigative team at the school's paper. ![kate_petersen_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/kate_petersen_headshot.png?h=9c86ceb9&itok=1KP_7LSP) ## Kate S. Petersen Kate S. Petersen is a reporter at CNN Weather, covering science, extreme weather, climate, and creatures. Previously, she served as USA TODAY's climate and energy fact-check reporter, where she covered energy and investigated climate, science, and energy misinformation on social media. Her reporting has also appeared in Discover, Ars Technica, WIRED, Astronomy, and Environmental Health News. ![mariua_ramos_pacheco_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/mariua_ramos_pacheco_headshot.png?h=322b44e1&itok=WDEDl9nm) ## María Ramos Pacheco María Ramos Pacheco is a bilingual reporter who covers neighborhood issues, environmental justice, and all things city of Dallas-related for The Dallas Morning News. Before joining The News, María was a reporter at El Paso Matters and attended the University of Texas at El Paso. She is from Chihuahua, Mexico, where her love for journalism was formed. ![meg_duff_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/meg_duff_headshot.png?h=936b56d8&itok=HO88gQxh) ## Meg Duff Meg Duff is a freelance climate and environmental journalist and a lecturer in Johns Hopkins University's MA in Science Writing program. She has written for outlets including MIT Technology Review, Slate, and Capital & Main. Her narrative podcasts have appeared in Scientific American, Outside Podcast, and Drilled. She holds an MFA from NYU and a BA from Earlham College. ![megan_myscofski_headshot_final](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/megan_myscofski_headshot_final.png?h=ccf0dbd8&itok=LmGg7lHM) ## Megan Myscofski Megan Myscofski is a freelance reporter with experience in public radio across California and the Southwest, covering public health, politics and economics. Across those beats, she has reported on housing, water, addiction, and more. Her work has been featured on NPR, Marketplace, and Deutschlandfunk. Megan holds degrees from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and NYU. ![michael_kodas_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/michael_kodas_headshot.jpg?h=af3a812b&itok=lB7HxBW-) ## Michael Kodas Michael Kodas is an author, photojournalist, and senior editor at Inside Climate News. He has written several books, including the award-winning *Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame*. In 1999, he was on The Hartford Courant team awarded a Pulitzer for breaking news reporting. His work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, and PBS. ![molly_taft_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/molly_taft_headshot.jpg?h=79bef5c9&itok=2hTXru1A) ## Molly Taft Molly Taft is a senior writer for WIRED, covering climate change, energy, and the environment. Previously, they were a reporter and editor at Drilled, an investigative climate multimedia reporting project. They also wrote about climate change and technology for Gizmodo and served as a contributing editor for The New Republic. ![mosabber_hossain_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/mosabber_hossain_headshot.jpg?h=6495b94a&itok=eGwPPXtj) ## Mosabber Hossain Mosabber Hossain is a climate and environmental journalist covering Bangladesh for Daily Prothom Alo, the country's largest daily newspaper. His reporting has earned multiple awards, including the 2014 South Asian Inquirer Investigative Journalism Award from the Thomson Foundation for his investigation into financial corruption in Bangladesh's telecom sector. ![nick_bowlin_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/nick_bowlin_headshot.png?h=1343cc6c&itok=qjlqLkc6) ## Nick Bowlin Nick Bowlin covers oil and gas in Oklahoma for The Frontier and ProPublica. His writing and reporting have appeared in Harper's, The Guardian, The Nation, The Drift, and High Country News. He is a two-time Livingston Award finalist. ![rebecca_mccarthy_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/rebecca_mccarthy_headshot.jpg?h=9dc95b1d&itok=BvEY-G7F) ## Rebecca Egan McCarthy Rebecca Egan McCarthy is a writer covering technology, energy, and the environment. Her work has appeared in The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The Baffler, and many other outlets. She is a 2026–27 Law and Justice Journalism Fellow and was previously the 2025–26 Climate News Reporting Fellow at Grist. She lives in Philadelphia. ![robert_chaney_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/robert_chaney_headshot.png?h=8ac3ce23&itok=KIN1Ul96) ## Robert Chaney Robert Chaney writes for Mountain Journal and Montana Free Press. His book *The Grizzly in the Driveway* earned a 2021 Society of Environmental Journalists Rachel Carson Award. He studied political science at Macalester College and has won awards for writing and photography, including fellowships at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the National Evolutionary Science Center at Duke. ![ruby_mellen_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/ruby_mellen_headshot.jpeg?h=d8b7612e&itok=CeqL1Zb_) ## Ruby Mellen Ruby Mellen is an award-winning journalist who reports on the ways climate change transforms communities. She was The Washington Post's extreme weather and disasters reporter, where she covered wildfires, hurricanes, and extreme heat across the United States and led the newsroom's coverage of NOAA. She also worked on The Post's international desk. She lives in Washington, D.C. ![sara_hussein_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/sara_hussein_headshot.png?h=4f3d2c16&itok=igHedmR4) ## Sara Hussein Sara Hussein is an award-winning British-Egyptian journalist for AFP. She covers climate change and environment stories across the Asia-Pacific region. She is currently based in Bangkok and has reported from dozens of countries across three continents. ![sebastian_rodriguez_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/sebastian_rodriguez_headshot.png?h=cd2a7045&itok=ln4jn-3w) ## Sebastián Rodríguez Sebastián Rodríguez is an award-winning freelance investigative reporter and editor from Costa Rica. His work covers climate, nature, and energy diplomacy, with a focus on tracking international public finance. He is a former investigations and special projects editor at Climate Home News and holds an MSc in Climate Change, Development and Policy from the University of Sussex. ![serdar_vardar_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/serdar_vardar_headshot_0.jpg?h=468ef699&itok=Uz5GlR4t) ## Serdar Vardar Serdar Vardar is an investigative journalist at Deutsche Welle's Environment Desk. His work follows the money, power, and political incentives behind environmental harm. He has investigated greenwashing, asbestos risks, toxic mining, political influence networks, and deep-sea mining finance. His guiding question: who benefits, and who pays? ![umair_irfan_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/umair_irfan_headshot.jpg?h=790be497&itok=GzU7_Xxj) ## Umair Irfan Umair Irfan is a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C. specializing in science, energy, and climate change. His work has appeared in Grist, WIRED, Mother Jones, and The New York Times. Previously, he was a staff writer at Vox and Climatewire, part of E&E News. He has also contributed to podcasts and radio programs including Unexplainable and Science Friday. ![virginia_furness_headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/500w_x_625h/public/2026-06/virginia_furness_headshot.jpg?h=be9c4f6d&itok=7OwnyeIX) ## Virginia Furness Virginia Furness covers sustainable finance for Reuters. She writes about how the financial sector is shifting to meet climate and development goals and the impact these changes are having on the flow of money, business, people, and the planet. Virginia has reported on global climate policy and finance since 2021. She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. ## Prior Cohorts [2025 Cohort](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/climate-finance/climate-economics-journalism-fellowship-0/prior-cohort-2025) [2024 Cohort](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/climate-finance/climate-economics-journalism-fellowship-0/prior-cohort)