This year, ten Climate Week at Penn Fellows played a key role in enhancing the visibility of the annual event by attending events, capturing engaging moments, and preparing social media content to highlight each activity. Below are some of their impressions of Climate Week: 

Vyshnavi Chilla, CBE’26, shared, “The event featured a variety of expert-led discussions and interactive sessions on sustainability, carbon reduction, and climate resilience”, she added “which was both inspiring and eye-opening.” 

Regina Sanchez Aragon, an environmental studies exchange student, said, “I explored green and blue career opportunities, discovered the research conducted by students and faculty, heard from youth activists about organizing, discussed climate financing, and even met reptiles to understand their ecological relevance!” 

“I saw the critical importance of effective climate communication among corporations, governments, and policymakers,” said Yutong Du, MES’26 , “because even great policies and innovative engineering solutions won’t have the intended impact if decision-makers don’t have access to how to best solutions need clear understanding to be impactful.” 

Janice Cao, a sophomore majoring in economics, reflected, “From the quick, insightful 1.5-minute student speeches to a thoughtfully curated Quaker Kitchen menu, I was exposed to various ways students can actively engage with and learn about climate efforts,” she further said, “There’s so much to discover and many passions to unlock.” 

Jie Ying, a student of MES/landscape architecture, noted, “We all walked away with new insights and a greater sense of urgency to act on the climate issues we care about,” he added, “It’s a unique chance to learn and connect with others.” 

Joey Wu, a senior at the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research, remarked, “Explore different events—there’s a way to get involved for everyone. Diverse viewpoints push the boundaries of environmental sustainability.”   

Molly Fowler, MES’26, commented, “On a surface level, most individuals are aware that climate change is negative and microplastics are bad; but they lack the understanding as to why this is.” she said, “Climate Week at Penn served to bridge the gap in knowledge that many outside of the realm of sustainability lacked.” 

Ellie Kintiroglou, an environmental studies first-year student, shared, “Climate Week 2024 opened my eyes to the diversity of climate action being taken at Penn. Outside of the environmentalist community, Climate Week events’ central location on Locust Walk attracted a diverse community of students, faculty, and members of the Philadelphia community to learn more about climate activism.”