North Carolina Fellow Sahil Pontula

Sahil Pontula

Action Fellow Alumni

North Carolina

As a Junior Ranger, Sahil hikes annually at a national or state park and learns about its flora and fauna. On a recent hike on the Athabasca Glacier, the signs indicating the glacier’s recession due to years of global warming were a sad, albeit eye-opening, experience for him. This made his decision to do something substantial about climate change all the more urgent.

Due to allergies, Sahil has personally felt the health effects of climate change. He is also very passionate about astronomy and astrophysics. He has gazed up at the stars for as long as he can remember. In fact, the connection between climate change and astronomy is something he has also noticed through stargazing. On clear nights, he is able to see constellations such as Orion without a telescope, but this is becoming harder due to light and air pollution.

Going on bike rides with his family, running or playing soccer, or simply glancing at the nature around him, have infused in Sahil an admiration for the grandness of the natural environment in which we live.

By joining a national network of climate advocates at ACE, he hopes to learn more about climate science and policy, and take tangible steps towards reducing our carbon footprint by advocating for renewable energy.