Bridging Environmental Academia to Real World An In-Depth Look featuring Dr. Jeremy Sorgen

​As our world constantly searches for solutions to our growing climate crisis, environmental research has become ever more critical to prevent our planet from becoming uninhabitable. Whether this exploration entails technological solutions or environmental philosophy, this research can help us find possibilities for positive change in our world. Yet, among the thousands of published articles, it may feel like nothing has significantly changed in how we approach climate change. As I begin to explore environmental academia in my own life, I have always wondered why this occurs.

My curiosity led me to Dr. Jeremy Sorgen, an environmental researcher and professor at Mills College Northeastern who specializes in philosophy and tribal research. From our talk together, I realized that though we may understand the theory and information about solutions to environmental issues, how can we actually implement, solve, and practice them in the real world?

Sorgen began his career as a philosopher. He grew fond of the field, believing that “philosophy as a discipline can actually improve the condition of the world and respond to social problems in a way that makes a difference right beyond the academy.” Studying ethics, religion, and the environment, Sorgen hoped that his academic career would lead to real social justice and change in the world. Through writing his dissertation and gaining more experience in this field, Sorgen “saw this disconnect between academic research and action in the world.”

Especially when dealing with communities and diverse groups, environmental research can seem inherently extractive. We tend to helicopter in for the sake of academia but do little to reciprocate the kindness of these groups for sharing their knowledge. As a result, high-level academia tends to boil down to capitalist schemes by universities and research facilities that hope to gain popularity from their efforts; real-world social justice becomes just secondary.

Sorgen hopes to rewrite this narrative through an idea called engaged scholarship. Instead of isolating the realms of social change and intense research, researchers can directly stir social change in collaboration with communities. In the context of environmental research, Sorgen believes this approach can be especially effective in mitigating the impacts of our climate crisis. Addressing this predicament, he believes that “we need some level of cultural and institutional change that gets us to political questions. What are the institutions that are driving the climate crisis, what are their histories?” Beyond technological advancements, understanding the politics and social knowledge of the climate crisis is vital—insights that can be gleaned through working directly with these communities.

For example, Sorgen’s research has uncovered the importance of “learn[ing] from the people who have historically shown that they know how to live in relation—in a different relationship with the land.” America’s history of settler colonialism often masks Indigenous knowledge and the connection between this less popular culture and the environment. Recently, Sorgen proposed that uncovering and bringing this knowledge to light suggests that solving the environmental crisis involves “redistributing power to groups that know how to live in relationship with the land.”

In a world increasingly shaped by ecological uncertainty, Sorgen’s vision of engaged scholarship offers a hopeful path forward—one grounded not just in data, but in dialogue, justice, and collective responsibility.​