Learn More About Our Program

Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University has teamed up with Environmental Health News to form Agents of Change in Environmental Justice.

​​We’re amplifying the voices of those that haven’t been prioritized in science and academia—people who are already pushing our planet forward in a health-for-all direction. They’re inspiring the next generation of scientists, and they’re capable of so much more.

Mission

Our mission is to empower emerging leaders from backgrounds often neglected in science and academia to reimagine solutions for a healthy-for-all planet.

Vision

Our vision is to foster a new cadre of multifaceted thought leaders who can help create the big changes needed to ensure everyone enjoys a healthy environment by integrating the best available science and technology with the intergenerational knowledge of communities enduring high pollution whose voices haven’t been prioritized in decision-making for unfair reasons.

Goals

  1. Inject new ideas about health and environmental issues by building and strengthening alliances and collaborations with other programs, institutions and media organizations.
  2. Advance the careers and impact of our fellows, helping them become the next generation of thought leaders.
  3. Bring our fellows’ expertise into decision-making spaces.
  4. Make scientific information more accessible to a general audience and those suffering from high pollution levels.

Our institutional home

The program is administered through the Environmental Health Sciences department at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Our MEDIA Partner

The program is in partnership with Environmental Health News, a publication of Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to driving science into public discussion and policy on environmental health issues.

our staff

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Ami Zota, ScD, MS
Program Director
Ami Zota is the founder and director of Agents of Change initiative. Dr. Zota is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Health Sciences department at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Zota’s work seeks to secure environmental justice and improve health equity through advancements in science, policy, and clinical practice.
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Veena Singla, PhD
Associate Director
Dr. Veena Singla is a Senior Scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Healthy People, Thriving Communities Program. Her work seeks to address health disparities linked to harmful environmental exposures using an interdisciplinary approach incorporating environmental health, exposure science, public health and policy expertise.
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Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, PhD
Assistant Director
Dr. Yoshira “Yoshi” Ornelas Van Horne is an exposure scientist and environmental justice scholar. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research focuses on addressing unequal exposures to harmful contaminants that affect structurally marginalized communities.
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Max Aung, PhD, MPH
Assistant Director
Dr. Max Aung is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental Health at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Max’s research focuses on applying data science frameworks to understand potential mechanisms linking chemical mixtures to health across the life course.
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Lariah Edwards, PhD
Assistant Director
Dr. Lariah Edwards is currently an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding the health effects of and addressing exposure disparities to hormone-altering chemicals commonly found in consumer products.
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Emily Weaver, MA
Program Associate
Emily Weaver is a Staff Research Scientist at Columbia University in the department of Environmental Health Sciences. She is a first generation graduate and holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Climate School, where she was a Dimenstein-Spielvogel fellow.
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Samar Ahmad, MPH
Program Manager
Samar Ahmad is Program Manager for the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice program at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She previously served as a Research Associate at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
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María Paula Rubiano A.
Assistant Editor
María Paula Rubiano A. is a journalist, editor and translator based in Medellín, Colombia. She’s written about climate change, biodiversity, food sovereignty and environmental justice for publications like Grist, Science, El Espectador, Audubon, Atlas Obscura, and more.

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