Nicklaus Smith
BA 2022 Social & Political History, Environmental & Sustainability Studies Additional Major, Drama Minor
Nicklaus Smith’s introduction to environment and sustainability was heavily influenced by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. At the time, Smith was living in Alabama, and having a major ecological disaster happen so close to home was a radicalizing moment for him. He wondered how such a devastating event was able to occur and was catapulted into a variety of environmental initiatives. At Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Smith began taking environmental classes during his sophomore year and joined Sustainable Earth club as well. Though he always cared about environmental and sustainability topics, he didn't realize he could pursue those passions until then. After some reflection, Smith realized environmental issues were what he wanted to dedicate his education and career to and changed his educational focus to social and political history, centering around environmental and sustainability issues.
As a senior, Smith was able to declare an additional major in environmental and sustainability studies and completed his Environmental and Sustainability Studies Senior Capstone as part of the program. Through a reading brought to his attention in the Introduction to Environmental Ideas course, he became interested in how deeply seeded Pennsylvania was in the fossil fuel industry, specifically fracking and the local context it has in Southwest PA, and began wondering what neighboring states the Marcellus Shale extended through were doing. After finding a distinctive compare and contrast between the states of Pennsylvania and New York, Smith applied his interest in the topic to his senior capstone. He asked, “in two neighboring states that share similar shale gas potential and an extensive industrial history, how have the political and economic circumstances divided fracking policy decisions in Pennsylvania and New York,”¹ and through independent research found that “each state’s differing attitudes towards fracking activities within their borders has been determined by contrasting legislative proceedings, uneven economic circumstances, and conflicting public perceptions that either laud or reject the outcomes associated with fracking.”² He completed an additional final research project for his primary major as well. The Historical Research Seminar research paper, titled “Remember Donora: How a Small Pennsylvania Town Jolted America into the Modern Environmental Movement, 1948,” asks, “how did an industrial town’s air pollution catastrophe force America to reckon with its air pollution predicament and pave the way for the nation’s first comprehensive environmental protection legislation?”³ The rich environmental knowledge and research amongst CMU’s history faculty combined with the interdisciplinary lens Smith gained from his environmental and sustainability studies additional major gave him the resources to study how the 1948 Donora smog sparked the modern environmentalist movement in the U.S. If you would like to learn more about his research projects, they are available upon request.
Smith is now pursuing his master’s degree in climate and society at Columbia University’s Climate School, “a 12-month interdisciplinary program that trains professionals and academics to understand and cope with the impacts of climate change and climate variability on society and the environment.”⁴ The environmental and sustainability studies additional major emphasized the importance of interdisciplinarity to Smith, and when searching for a graduate program to continue his studies, it became one of the most important factors in determining where he wanted to attend. Smith believes that “interdisciplinarity is the cocktail for solving problems,” and hopes that the Environmental and Sustainability Studies program at CMU continues to grow. He especially appreciated the human aspect of the program and how committed and passionate everyone involved in the program is. Smith encourages current and future environmental and sustainability studies students to take advantage of the opportunity to work with the multidisciplinary group of peers around them and to soak up the experiences the program presents.
¹ Nicklaus Smith, “Same Song, Different Lyrics: A Comparative Analysis of Fracking Policy in Pennsylvania and New York State,” 2022.
² Smith, “Same Song, Different Lyrics.”
³ Nicklaus Smith, “Remember Donora: How a Small Pennsylvania Town Jolted America into the Modern Environmental Movement, 1948,” 2022.
⁴ “MA in Climate and Society,” Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, https://climatesociety.ei.columbia.edu/.