On Tuesday, Maddie Davidson ’25 appeared on NPR’s “1A” to discuss a tree science and stewardship project that earned her a $5,000 Youth Climate Action Fund grant from the city of Allentown. Joining her on the show were Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and Darren Harry Baine, a college student who earned a similar grant from the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Last fall, Davidson, a sustainability studies major and creative writing and journalism minor, and Baine both spoke on a panel of youth climate leaders at the Bloomberg CityLab summit in Mexico City. (Bloomberg Philanthropies provided funding to 100 cities around the world, including Allentown and Kitchener, for Youth Climate Action Fund grants.)
“One of the values that has kind of determined my college experience has been using this space, using Allentown, using Muhlenberg as a playground to do things and try things,” Davidson said in the interview. “There’s almost an element of … understanding that the core of this work is partnership, is collaboration, is joy, is celebration. … We need that joy, and we need that motivation, and power, and trust, and hopefulness that, in partnership, in collaboration, with joy, we can do better.”
Davidson also spoke about the internship she has with Allentown’s sustainability coordinator, the effect of climate anxiety on young people, and how she measures the impact of her work. Listen to the complete interview here.
