Lucas Nerbonne ’25.5 Awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
Lucas Nerbonne ’25.5 has been awarded a 12-month, $40,000 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a year of independent exploration outside of the United States. An earth and climate sciences major from Minneapolis, Minn., Nerbonne plans to work alongside conservationists, farmers, herders, and scientists, studying how communities sustain long-term engagement with diverse climate challenges.
Nerbonne will travel to Scotland, India, Peru, and Norway over the course of his fellowship, gaining insights on climate activity in each location.
“I’m really excited to get the chance to explore so many different landscapes all over the world,” said Nerbonne. “I picked countries that reflected a broad spectrum of different climate impacts, wanting to immerse myself into cultures that were experiencing climate change radically differently than I had for the past four years in Vermont.”
Nerbonne’s project, “Why Do People Care About Climate?,” explores what drives everyday people to devote their lives to working on climate action. His travel will give him the opportunity to compare different climate movements across social contexts and learn how diverse traditions sustain long-term engagement with global climate challenges.
“For example, in countries where Indigenous sovereignty remains central, climate work is often inseparable from land defense, while in more industrialized contexts, the framing may lean toward economic solutions, policy reform, technological solutions, or grassroots mobilization,” Nerbonne wrote in his project proposal.
During the first leg of his project from August through November, he will travel to Scotland where he will connect with members of the Iona Community, a nonstructured group of activists connected to the abbey located on the Isle of Iona in the Hebrides. The Edinburgh and Highlands/Island Climate Action Networks will host him as they bring together community members, organize events, and coordinate with public- and private-sector organizations to further climate action.
Getting the chance to meet and work with people who have firsthand experience with climate change will give real-world context to things I learned in the classroom throughout college.
From December through February, he’ll be in India, where he aims to spend time in the Sundarbans, where communities are banding together to build resiliency as their environment changes, and Ladakh in the Himalayas, where the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives leads community-based projects on water conservation and sustainable living in high mountain environments.
In March, he’ll travel to the intermountain Andes of Peru, where he plans to stay with and learn from the Quechua community in Andahuaylas, along with contacts in Lima and Pisac. He wants to learn how this population is experiencing climate change in an area where it is quickly becoming a pressing issue.
Nerbonne wraps up his year in Norway, from May through July, both in Oslo and in the country’s northern regions. Here he plans to examine the tension between Norway’s global reputation for sustainability and its continued reliance on oil exports.
Nerbonne’s advisor, Will Amidon, associate professor of earth and climate sciences, says that winning a Watson Fellowship is uniquely challenging because the organization seeks individuals who will see the world through a special lens. “Lucas is just that person—personally inspiring, someone who leaves you with more energy than he found you with,” said Amidon. “He possesses a rare natural curiosity and the intellect and work ethic to back it up. He will be an incredible ambassador for our country.”
Nerbonne previously served as a Middlebury Climate Action Fellow in the Office of Sustainability, where he worked with a wide range of organizations, including NASA, Indigenous community science organizations, and grassroots environmental groups.
“Lucas came into the Climate Action Fellowship asking great questions,” said Minna Brown ’07, who directs the fellowship program. “He wanted to know what it looked like to build real momentum and spent his two years in the fellowship exploring scientific, activist, community, and artistic pathways. Lucas threw himself into complex, nuanced situations, becoming adept at providing support and leadership. I am so excited to see where this Watson takes him as he continues to ask these questions around the world!”
At his midyear graduation celebration in February, Nerbonne received the Jason B. Fleishman ’03.5 Award, which honors students who embrace “academic passion and determination, excellence in leadership and involvement, a positive attitude, and care for others.”
Looking to the year ahead, Nerbonne is excited for the opportunities ahead and how the experience may shape his future plans. “Getting the chance to meet and work with people who have firsthand experience with climate change will give real-world context to things I learned in the classroom throughout college,” he said. “I can see my Watson year propelling me into graduate school in the earth sciences with a much deeper appreciation for how earth systems interact with communities, grounding sometimes more theoretical work in field experience.”
About the Watson Fellowship
Founded in 1961, the Watson Foundation was created in the name of Thomas J. Watson Sr, best known for building IBM. Watson Fellows are nominated by 41 colleges and university partners across the United States. Fellows receive $40,000 for twelve months of travel and college loan assistance as needed. The Watson community includes international and local leaders—artists, CEOs, community organizers, diplomats, Emmy, Grammy, MacArthur, Oscar and Pulitzer recipients, entrepreneurs, faculty, healthcare pioneers, journalists, lawyers, politicians, researchers, and committed social advocates.
For more information about the Watson Fellowship and other awards, visit the Fellowships Office.