According to Nina Brooks, who joined the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) as an assistant professor in Fall 2025, now is the perfect time to be learning about sustainability and development. 

“It’s more important than ever to really be focusing on places where we can take action and have it be really meaningful, on all scales, from local to global impacts,” says Brooks. “The rest of the world is not stopping on climate action while the U.S. is pulling back.”

Brooks, who was previously an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, says she was encouraged to apply to SEAS by Professor Pamela Jagger, with whom she shares a common research interest in clean cooking, which is focused on using clean cooking fuels and cookstoves on a global scale.

“It seemed like a really good opportunity for me to get back into a community focused on environmental research,” Brooks says. 

She adds that she was eager to continue working in an interdisciplinary community, which is one of the things she appreciates about the SEAS approach. 

“I really enjoy being surrounded by people who are unified by their interests in the environment, working on issues related to climate change, sustainability and environmental protection, but coming at it from all different angles, disciplines, parts of the world and approaches.”

Brooks' research, which broadly seeks to document how climate change and air pollution threaten human health and well-being in the Global South, aims to identify realistic strategies to mitigate the issues. She is currently focused on the global impacts of the traditional brick manufacturing industry in Bangladesh. This industry contributes significantly to climate change, but is also an essential construction element for Bangladesh, as well as for many other developing countries. 

She says that examining the industry and tackling the issues includes ensuring worker protections and safety, as a majority of workers are from highly vulnerable and exploited populations, including migrants and children. Brooks’ work aims to address workers’ needs while mitigating the impacts on the planet.

“I am trying to identify solutions that meet the needs of economic development, growth and sustainable building materials, but doing so in a way that is not harmful to the environment,” says Brooks.

At SEAS, where Brooks is part of the Sustainability and Development (SUSDEV) specialization, she says she is excited to get students involved in some of her research projects. 

“For anyone interested in getting their hands into some research, I’ll definitely have some opportunities," she says, adding that she’s also looking forward to being a resource for issues of sustainability and development, from projects to future careers. 

Next semester, Brooks will be teaching a new course that will look at how economic development impacts the environment, and vice versa, how the environment affects economic development. She explains that this will not be a traditional economics course. 

“I want to make it geared towards students at SEAS who want to learn about these tools and conceptual frameworks, but in a way that’s really designed for our SUSDEV students. The course explores the complex relationships between economic development and the environment through real-world examples, drawing on conceptual frameworks from development and environmental economics.”