Charitie Ropati
Young Activist (she/her)
In 2019 I was named a Champion for Change by the Center for Native American Youth and was nationally recognized for my work in education and climate advocacy. My work has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Guardian, and the Malala Fund. I study the intersections of civil infrastructure, permafrost, ecology, and cultural resilience and am a senior at Columbia studying Civil Engineering and Anthropology. I am a Yup’ik and Samoan environmental and education activist and worked to implement an accurate and inclusive history sub-curriculum of Indigenous peoples in Western pedagogy. I currently study permafrost degradation in coastal Native communities in Alaska, stimulated effects of climate change on fireweed and work on the coproduction of knowledge at Columbia University through the Earth Network. Through my work, I hope to create a better future for other Native youth.
