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Fanuel Muindi interviews MIT undergraduate Lyne-Nicole Odhiambo, who participated in the 2024 virtual summer internship program in the Civic Science Media Lab affiliated with Northeastern University. At a local cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next to MITโ€™s campus, Odhiambo shares the inspiration behind the summer project of mapping climate-focused sustainability initiatives in Kenya and reflects on the broader questions that have continued to guide their work. โ€œI wanted to focus on not only seeing victims of climate catastrophe as victims, but also as holders of knowledge in ways to mitigate and respond to these catastrophes.โ€ย 

Odhiambo expands by saying โ€œItโ€™s crucial to understand that communities on the front lines of climate change have their own solutionsโ€”solutions that come from their lived experiences.โ€

Odhiambo discusses the challenges encountered, including language barriers and political unrest: โ€œI expected to just go in, find people, and have it be fine, but quickly realized that my shaky Swahili and the political climate made building rapport much more difficult.โ€ Despite these hurdles, Odhiambo found another angle by shifting the project focus to mapping local initiatives: โ€œInstead of trying to interview people directly, I decided to map the landscape of sustainability and climate adaptive technologies in Kenya from afar, using what I could gather from existing resources and supplementing that with quotes from those (leaders) I could reach.โ€

Odhiambo’s work culminates in an upcoming piece that not only discusses the importance of local knowledge but also points out the need for more mapping work around collaborations between grassroots organizations. โ€œThereโ€™s so much more that can be done if these organizations could synergize their efforts rather than working in isolation,โ€ Odhiambo remarks.

The interview also touches on the labโ€™s broader mission to inspire the next generation of civic science scholars and practitioners through hands-on internships like the one Odhiambo participated in. Looking ahead into the future, Odhiambo shares, โ€œI see myself acting as a bridge between the technical side of science and the community-oriented side, making knowledge more accessible to everyone.โ€ 

Odhiambo’s upcoming piece will be published on the lab terminal.

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