ESF’s Teron named Nathan Public Policy Fellow by Rockefeller Institute

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Rockefeller Institute of Government announced it has named Lemir Teron, a faculty member at the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, as a 2022-23 Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow.

He is one of six researchers and practitioners to receive the honor. Over the next year, these experts will partner with Rockefeller Institute researchers to examine timely public policy issues in gun violence, public health, health care, local government fiscal management, and environmental justice, the Albany–based Rockefeller Institute said in a release. As part of his fellowship, Teron will study issues of transportation and environmental justice, with a special emphasis on the disparate impacts of urban heat islands and strategies to combat urban heat.

At ESF, Teron’s research focuses on urban sustainability, energy policy, and environmental justice. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware and completed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-supported postdoc at the Environmental Cooperative Science Center at Florida A&M University, per the release. He currently serves on the energy working group of the forthcoming New York State Climate Impacts Assessment. Teron was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Faculty Member for Teaching Excellence Award by the SUNY ESF Undergraduate Student Association and he received a 2020 Unsung Hero Award at the 35th Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Syracuse for his commitment to racial and environmental justice.