Clara Chavez-Ives is a research associate at the Center for Earth Ethics. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Analysis from Washington University in St. Louis. 

 

Clara has an interdisciplinary background, including conducting ecological fieldwork in Missouri and following the Loss and Damage negotiations at COP28 in Dubai. Motivated by her grassroots activism and campaign efforts, Clara is dedicated to fostering stakeholder engagement and using community knowledge to inform policy. Through her studies of race, gender and sexuality, Clara has also explored how identity shapes our interactions with the environment.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Clara is passionate about dismantling the false dichotomy between natural and urban spaces. She views this as critical for fostering human connection to the land and one another. Clara loves exploring the city’s parks, and reading about coastal resilience initiatives and walkable infrastructure. She also enjoys running, hiking and learning new languages.