The Center for Climate and Security (CCS) is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 class of the Gordon R. Sullivan Climate and Ecological Security Fellowship, the latest iteration of CCS’s fellowship programming. The Sullivan Fellowship is the preeminent opportunity of its kind to forge the next generation of climate-informed national security practitioners. It is named in honor of CCS Advisory Board Member General Gordon R. Sullivan, US Army (Ret.), who passed away in 2024 after a distinguished military career and was an early champion of integrating climate and environmental concerns in US national security.  

The Sullivan Fellowship creates a space for early- to mid-career professionals to explore and build proficiency in the interplay between climate change and security. Topics they will study over the next nine months include climate change and migration, climate diplomacy, the impact of climate change on military operations, and the security implications of the clean energy transition. Through the work they undertake during their fellowship, Sullivan Fellows become a powerful cadre of expert voices able to make propulsive policy change. 

The 14 fellows of the 2024-2025 class come from US state and federal government, Congress, private industry, non-governmental organizations, and think tanks, and represent an equally diverse set of educational and geographic backgrounds. The CCS team looks forward to collaborating with them over the next nine months. 

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Juan David Bustamante, originally from Pereira, Colombia and raised in South Florida, is a Project Associate at Dexis Consulting Group. He received dual-degrees in International Affairs and Environment & Society from Florida State University. Juan seeks to develop a deep understanding of the growing risk of conflict in Latin America as climate change exacerbates migration pressures.

Originally from Berkeley, California, Julia Greensfelder currently serves as the Director of Legislative Affairs in the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Office at the Department of State. Before coming to State, Julia worked as a Congressional Liaison Officer in USAID’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs and as a Legislative and Policy Analyst on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee majority staff covering energy, environment, and international development. Julia graduated with her BA in International and Area Studies (focused on climate security) at Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently a part-time graduate student at the Naval War College working towards a MA in Defense and Strategic Studies. Julia is most excited to learn about how to better coordinate within the Executive Branch to address climate security challenges during the Fellowship.

Sophia Haber, originally from Los Angeles, California, is an International Policy Analyst at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). She received her BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. As a Sullivan Fellow, Sophia looks forward to bolstering her understanding of the gender-climate-security nexus.

Catherine Heiger, originally from Evansville, IN, is a communications professional in the renewable energy sector. She received her International Studies BA from Indiana University. During the fellowship, Catherine looks forward to deepening her understanding of geopolitical challenges arising from climate change and connecting with other professionals interested in the nexus of climate change and national security. 

Ingrid Izaguirre is currently a Climate Solutions Fellow in the Office of Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, where she manages the House bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. Originally from Miami, Florida, she received her BA in Geology & Marine Science from the University of Miami and her M.Phil. and M.A. in Environmental & Earth Sciences from Columbia University. Ingrid is eager to delve deeper into topics at the nexus of climate and security, develop an understanding of established pathways the security community uses to address climate security risks, and work with peers to identify opportunities to bolster national and global climate security efforts.

Sylvia is originally from Massachusetts but was raised in a small town in Brittany, France. She completed her master’s degree in Sustainable Development from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and is currently a Program Associate at Winrock International. Sylvia is excited to explore how climate change impacts food security and agriculture, contributing to broader security threats, during the Fellowship.

Madelyn MacMurray, originally from Medina, Ohio, is a Research Assistant in the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center. She received her BA with Research Distinction in International Studies from the Ohio State University. Madelyn is looking forward to better understanding how an increased demand for critical minerals to drive the clean energy transition will impact U.S. foreign policy towards the Global South, as well as how natural disasters intensified by climate change and natural resource depletion will impact migration. 

Georgia Nichols, originally from Amherst, Massachusetts, is a Management Analyst at the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She received her MA from the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, and her BA from Brandeis University. During her Fellowship, Georgia looks forward to envisioning how nations might collaborate meaningfully on multilateral climate security challenges to both preserve the shared environment and protect individual state security priorities. 

Kate Ross is from Tarpley, Texas, but grew up mostly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She is a Science Policy Fellow at IDA’s Science and Technology Policy Institute and earned her BSc in Civil Engineering and BA in Plan II Honors at the University of Texas at Austin. Kate is excited to learn about how climate change can exacerbate geopolitical tensions and how we can mitigate those risks. 

Adam Salzman is from Long Island, New York. He received his BA in Government and Economics with a minor in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College. He is currently working as a Strategy Associate at the Penta Group, where he is on a handful of energy/environmental focused teams. He is excited to explore how climate change intersects with national security and to brainstorm possible solutions to address these growing global challenges during the Sullivan Fellowship.

Rebecca Spencer, hailing from Jacksonville, Florida, is a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy as part of the Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Team. She received her BA in East Asian Studies from Stanford University, and her MS in Earth Systems from Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. Rebecca looks forward to deepening her understanding of how climate change interacts with proliferation of and endangerment to weapons of mass destruction during her time as a Sullivan Fellow.

Katherine Waters, originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, is a Senior Program Assistant with the Climate, Environment, and Conflict team at the United States Institute of Peace. She received her BA in International Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont. During this fellowship, Katherine looks forward to exploring climate-induced rural to urban migration and the capacity for adaptation as migration patterns shift due to climate change.