The University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Detroit Sustainability Clinic announced the launch of its Urban Sustainability and Justice Faculty and Community Fellows Program today. The Urban Sustainability and Justice Faculty Fellowship invites academic scholars from external institutions to connect with the U-M and Detroit communities on advancing smart, actionable and equitable urban sustainability and climate solutions. The Urban Sustainability and Justice Community Fellowship supports innovative partnerships with local sustainability leaders, providing a mechanism and platform for collaboration opportunities that accelerate community-based climate action. 

Lemir Teron, associate professor at the Howard University Department of Earth, Environment and Equity, will serve as the Clinic’s inaugural faculty fellow, and Juan Shannon, executive director of the Parker Village Foundation, will serve as the inaugural community fellow. Both will spend a portion of the winter 2025 semester in residence in Ann Arbor, sharing insights and engaging with U-M’s and Detroit’s multidisciplinary and multisectoral communities, hosting public lectures and meeting with faculty, staff, students and community partners.

“We are honored and thrilled to have Dr. Teron and Mr. Shannon join the U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic this semester as our inaugural Urban Sustainability and Justice Fellows,” said Clinic Director and SEAS Associate Professor Tony Reames. “Dr. Teron brings not only a depth and breadth of expertise in energy and environmental policy, but is a dedicated scholar-activist in his own right on environmental justice, urban forestry and climate policy. Mr. Shannon’s impressive vision for a more equitable and just community includes supporting education, food security and renewable energy, which has made him an asset to the growth and welfare of Highland Park, Michigan.” 

Teron, who holds a PhD in Energy and Environmental Policy from the University of Delaware, focuses his research on the advancement of public science, environmental health and justice, energy policy, and community and urban forestry. 

“It is a pleasure and privilege to join Dr. Reames and the U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic team in Michigan this semester,” Teron said. “Dr. Reames has reshaped how we all think about energy justice, and the opportunity to build community with the Detroit Sustainability Clinic embodies the obligations of those committed to public science. SEAS has produced many of the seminal environmental sustainability and justice research voices. To be associated with that tradition is one of the great honors of my professional life.”  

Teron currently serves on the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment’s Energy Workgroup and is a Member Scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform. He was named a 2022-2023 Nathan Policy Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. He also offers community-based environmental workshops and trainings.

“It’s essential that we unlearn power,” Teron said. “This includes not only rethinking our energy systems, but also social structures that marginalize people and place while exacerbating environmental threats.”

Shannon, a Highland Park, Michigan native, got involved in grassroots sustainability and justice efforts to counter the devastation he saw affecting his beloved neighborhood. He founded Parker Village in 2015 to create a model for sustainable neighborhood revitalization, development and urban agriculture. He is transforming the vacant Thompson Elementary School and nearby abandoned homes into a solar powered café, community garden with aquaponics, an events and cultural center and sustainable housing. Shannon has previously served as a Detroit Innovation Fellow. 

“I am honored and very excited to participate in this new opportunity with the U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic, and to be working with Dr. Reames,” Shannon said. “This opportunity is helpful in bringing awareness and potential partnerships to this long-term project [at Parker Village], and I am committed to seeing it through and standing #HighlandParkStrong throughout.” Shannon shared that the Parker Village Foundation recently transitioned to a 501c3 non-profit organization, and is now offering a new membership program to help increase revitalization in Highland Park. 

In addition to his sustainability and community activism efforts, Shannon is also a music entrepreneur and executive producer who has worked with artists including Proof, J. Dilla, Gabe Gonzalez, Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards of The Temptations, and Parliament-Funkadelic alumni. Shannon has run his own multimedia company, Modern Tribe Communications, since 1997. Modern Tribe will be housed on the Parker Village site, which will boast two immersive audio recording studios and a broadcast area, in addition to other amenities including a co-working space, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) lab and business incubator.

“Launching the Urban Sustainability and Justice Fellows Program marks another exciting development in the programmatic growth for the U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic,” Reames said. “We can’t wait to see the ideas, collaborations and innovations that arise from our partnership with Mr. Shannon and Dr. Teron.”

Read more about Teron on his website, www.unlearnpower.org. For more on Shannon and Parker Village, visit www.parkervillagefoundation.org.

The U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic advances climate resilience, equity and environmental justice for historically underserved communities in Detroit by providing resources and multi-year engagement opportunities that foster long-term relationships, and connect U-M partners with Detroit leaders, activists and visionaries. Learn more at seas.umich.edu/clinic.