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Kyle Whyte

Kyle smiling with blue jacket, light blue shirt and black tie
George Willis Pack Professor; University Diversity & Social Transformation Professor; Professor of Philosophy; Tishman Center Faculty Director
Environmental Justice
Climate + Energy
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About

Kyle is a faculty member at Michigan where he is George Willis Pack Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability and University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor. On campus, Kyle teaches in and coordinates the School’s environmental justice graduate specialization. He is founding Faculty Director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment, Principal Investigator of the Environmental Justice + Humanities Hub, co-Principal Investigator of the Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters, Faculty Associate of Native American Studies, Principal Investigator of the Secretariat for the Pathways Alliance for Change and Transformation, STRIDE Committee member, affiliate Professor of Philosophy, and Senior Fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows. 
    Kyle’s research on environmental justice centers moral and political issues that Indigenous peoples are addressing in the areas of climate change, conservation, and cooperative relationships with science institutions. He is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. His publications appear in journals such as Climatic Change, Weather, Climate & Society, Science, Daedalus, WIREs Climate Change, Environment & Planning E, and Sustainability Science. 
    Kyle is co-Chair of the Continental Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment. He is a member of the IPBES Indigenous and Local Knowledge Task Force, the National Academy of Sciences’ Resilient America Roundtable, The Nature Conservancy’s External Science Advisory Board, and the President's Advisory Committee of the American Museum of Natural History. He is Board President and a founder of both the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition and the Global Land Restoration Fund, serves as a Trustee of Earthjustice and a Board Member of the Rights and Resources Initiative, and sits on the Energy Equity Project’s Advisory Board and Climate United’s Advisory Council. 
    Previously, Kyle has served as a U.S. Science Envoy and as a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the Department of the Interior’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science, and two environmental justice work groups convened by Michigan governors. He has been an author for U.S. Global Change Research Program, the IPCC Working Group II, and the Status of Tribes and Climate Change report. He is a certificate holder of the United Nations’ Training Programme to Enhance the Conflict Prevention and Peacemaking Capacities of Indigenous Peoples’ Representatives.
    The National Science Foundation has been a major supporter of Kyle’s research and educational projects for over a decade. Supporters also include the NorthLight Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Builders Initiative, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mellon Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Climate and Land Use Alliance, Christensen Fund, Swedish Research Council, Energy Foundation, Crown Family Foundation, Sustainable Michigan Endowed Program, McKnight Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Marsden Fund, and Health Research Council of New Zealand. 
    Kyle has long term relationships with partners who advance Indigenous research and educational methodologies, including the College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute, the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Development, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe’s Consortium for Cooperative Ecological Resilience, Sustʻāinable Molokai, Molokai Heritage Trust, Indigenous Livelihood Enhancement Partners, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the Center for Environment and Development, the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago, the Red Lake Nation, the Christensen Fund, the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, the Bad River Tribe, the Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup, and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. 
    Kyle has received the Superior Teaching Award from his School’s Student Governing Board, the Community Engagement Scholarship Award and Distinguished Partnership Award for Community Engaged Research from Michigan State, the Bunyan Bryant Award for Academic Excellence from Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, the Breaking Barriers Award from the Michigan Democratic Party, and the Forty Under 40 Alumni Award and Don Ihde Distinguished Alumni Award from Stony Brook. Kyle is a 2022 cohort member of the Christensen Fund's Indigenous Leadership Program. Kyle has served as Austin J. Fagothey Distinguished Visiting Professor at Santa Clara, Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Rudrick Distinguished Scholar at Waterloo, Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar at Colorado, Ottilie Timnick Chair at Michigan State, McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair at Eastern Michigan, Tatlock Fellow at Vassar, Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor at UNC/Duke, and Distinguished Visitor at the Max Planck Institute.
    Kyle has given over 500 presentations and seminars, including plenary lectures for the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, International Indigenous Research Conference, IPBES 10 plenary, Alaska Forum for the Environment, Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, AAAS Annual Meeting, One Conservancy Science Gathering of TNC, International Association for Environmental Philosophy, Cultural Studies Association, International Society for Environmental Ethics, and Society for Social Studies of Science. His lectures include the Gilbert F. White (National Academy of Sciences), John P. Bell (UBC), Rudrick (Waterloo), Walker-Ames (Washington), Tanner Humanities (Utah), Stafford Little (Princeton), Mellon-Sawyer (Georgetown & UCSB), George Link Jr. (Dartmouth), Don Ihde Distinguished Alumni (Stony Brook), Tatlock (Vassar), McAndless (Eastern Michigan), Beamer-Schneider (CWRU), Patricia Sheffels (Colorado), and Hausser (Montana State). Kyle has delivered master classes for Columbia, Auckland, Vassar, and Penn State.  
 

Publications

Google Scholar page
In the News
A panelist speaks on Zoom, projected onto screens in the room, as in-person attendees listen.
January 26, 2026

Making history: Leaders representing Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-Descendant Peoples' movements discussed COP30 achievements, commitments, and the path forward

By Nayiri Mullinix | U-M School for Environment and Sustainability Katie Constantine | Rights and Resources Initiative The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), held by...

U-M, Mellon Foundation announce new Environmental Justice + Humanities Hub
December 13, 2024

U-M, Mellon Foundation announce new Environmental Justice + Humanities Hub

The Mellon Foundation has awarded nearly $4 million in a first-of-its kind grant to bolster the University of Michigan’s leading work in environmental justice. The grant...

Japjyot Singh (MS ’24): Meet the future of Environmental Justice
May 2, 2024

Japjyot Singh (MS ’24): Meet the future of Environmental Justice

After earning a BA in philosophy and psychology from the University of Maryland, Japjyot Singh (ਜਪਜੋਤ ਸਿੰਘ) (MS ’24) found himself working in a direct-service role at an...

Hira Ahmad
April 24, 2024

Hira Ahmad (MS '24): Meet the Future of Ecosystem Science and Management

University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) master’s student Hira Ahmad (MS ’24) came to graduate school looking for a program that would...

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland during a Q&A session with SEAS Professor Kyle Whyte
April 1, 2024

Secretary of the Interior speaks at U-M addressing the climate crisis and environmental justice: "Now is not the time for business as usual"

To effectively address the climate crisis with justice at the core, we need community-based action that brings everyone to the table, said Secretary of the Interior Deb...

SEAS master's students working with community members to clean up the coastline of Mo‘omomi Beach in Moloka‘i.
February 14, 2024

SEAS students support Native Hawaiians in massive Land Back movement and efforts to build food sovereignty

Aloha ʻāina, which translates to “love of the land,” is a central concept of Native Hawaiian thought, signifying the sense of being connected to and responsible for all...

Professors of Practice White and Shriberg bring practical experience into the classroom
November 30, 2023

Professors of Practice Shriberg and White bring practical experience into the classroom

As professors of practice and engagement at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), Mike Shriberg (MS ’00, PhD ’02) and Andy White...

Concept illustration of environmental justice for Indigenous peoples. Image credit: Nicole Smith, made with Midjourney
November 14, 2023

National Climate Assessment: U-M expert can discuss impacts on Indigenous peoples, environmental justice

Contact: Jim Erickson EXPERT ADVISORY University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) environmental justice scholar Kyle Whyte, an enrolled member...

In the Media
May 19, 2026

Episode 174: Climate Action with Kyle Whyte (Overthink Podcast)

Kyle Whyte
April 4, 2026

Braiding knowledge: how Indigenous expertise and western science are converging (The Guardian)

Kyle Whyte
March 23, 2026

A New Hydropower Deal Will Provide Clean Energy to NYC. Here's How a Canadian First Nation Made It Happen (TIME)

Kyle Whyte
March 10, 2026

The feds pulled $1.5B from tribal clean energy. Tribes are finding another way. (Grist)

Kyle Whyte
February 23, 2026

Unequal Access to Nature Fuels America's Health Crisis (Inside Climate News)

Kyle Whyte
January 1, 2025

$4M boost for University of Michigan’s environmental justice hub (Bridge Detroit)

Kyle Whyte
December 17, 2024

$4M boost for University of Michigan’s environmental justice hub (Planet Detroit)

Kyle Whyte
December 10, 2024

UMich leads the way on climate research in transboundary water regions (The Michigan Daily)

Drew Gronewold Kyle Whyte
November 7, 2024

Visit with US Science Envoy, Professor Kyle Whyte (UNSW Sydney)

Kyle Whyte
October 15, 2024

Summit in Australia urges science to do more to embrace First Nations climate knowledge (Voice of America)

Kyle Whyte

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