Geoffrey Henderson, who joined the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) as an assistant professor specializing in Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP), says that what drew him to SEAS is its unique interdisciplinary nature. 

“To address a problem as big as climate change, I think you have to take an interdisciplinary approach. SEAS really was the ideal environment for that,” says Henderson.

Before joining SEAS, Henderson received his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), was a postdoc at Duke University, and more recently was a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Colby College. As he begins his new position at SEAS, he says he is “excited to share classroom spaces, to facilitate discussions and to work together with students on research.” 

Before working in academia, Henderson worked for two years as a climate policy researcher at the World Resources Institute—a global nonprofit think-tank that works toward achieving a sustainable future—where he developed his commitment to environmental advocacy. During this time, he started to think about how a grassroots movement for action on climate change could be built.

“We need to understand not only the policy but the politics that allow us to enact that policy,” says Henderson. 

Next semester, Henderson will begin teaching two classes in SEAS, as well as leading one master’s capstone project. 

The first class, called, “Environmental Policy Implications of the 2024 Election,” is sure to be of interest to SEAS students at the current moment. Henderson aims to teach about the ability of environmental advocates to stop environmental laws from being rolled back and how resilient the administrative state will be to an anti-environmental agenda. He says he will also cover the ability of state politics to make up for the federal government and the role of interest groups.

"I think the moment that we're in is currently looking a lot like the moment we were in at the start of the first Trump administration after the 2016 election. There is an administration that wants to systematically dismantle environmental regulations, and there's also a Republican majority in Congress now that is fairly unified around that goal," says Henderson. 

The course will examine questions such as whether the local economic benefits of clean energy can make climate policies durable, and whether advocates can pressure swing-state representatives to break with their party on environmental policy.

The second class, “Energy Politics and Policy,” is one that he previously taught at both Colby College and UCSB. 

“In this course, I introduce students to the political actors, institutions and interests that shape the way that energy policy is made in the United States and around the world,” says Henderson. 

He wants students to understand how actors in the energy industry and environmental movement are trying to shape the way policy is made, through a variety of cases including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Paris Agreement. 

“For those who are looking for examples of environmental advocacy making a real difference, this course can really speak to that. The lessons about politics and policymaking from the course can be applied beyond the realm of energy,” says Henderson.

Henderson’s research covers coalitions of environmental and labor groups advocating policies to address climate change, and examines how the climate movement builds a grassroots base. He’s looking forward to starting to work closely with students on research because, he says “the ideas, the energy, the motivation, and the lived experience that students bring is really exciting.” 

Henderson will be leading a master’s capstone project with HERO Labs that closely ties in his personal research. The project will focus on how much climate protests are actually affecting policymakers’ decisions in the United Kingdom. 

For students looking at joining the SEAS community to specialize in EPP and wanting to know where to start in policy, Henderson says one up-and-coming issue of interest is transportation in policy for addressing climate change, saying that it is going to be “the next big thing” in climate action.

When asked about what Henderson is looking forward to the most, he says, “My model as an adviser is to bring students on to research projects, train them in the requisite skills, and together learn new things that can allow us to advance the cause of climate justice—to work together and move forward on this issue that means so much to our generation.”