BOUNDARYLESS LEADERSHIP PODCAST

Episode 25.

Creating a Safe Space for Individual Weirdness to Bring About Change

with Eri Saikawa

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In this episode, Nozomi and Eri discuss:

  • How Eri’s childhood interest in pollution has guided her career path. 
  • The importance of failures. 
  • Giving space for the voices that need to be heard and giving space for creativity and failure. 
  • Creating a safe environment and embracing your weird. 

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Be willing to take risks and try new things, you never know where it will lead you or what changes you can make. 
  • You do not have to have a title or a formal role to be a leader. 
  • We need to make a change in higher education. There are greater mental health struggles with the next generation as they carry the burden of the prior generations. 
  • Everybody has something to add. We all have different values and backgrounds. There is beauty in everyone and everything. 

 

“We cannot succeed without failing. We really need to be creative to be successful. And I feel that there are not enough opportunities for students to be really creative, because they are worried about failure.” —  Eri Saikawa

“I want to be weird – that’s the only way you’re going to be unique!” —  Eri Saikawa

“Goals are just directions – sometimes the ultimate goal is not necessary to reach that goal, but really the journey that takes you by having that kind of goal set because it sets you on your next step direction.” —  Nozomi Morgan 

About Eri Saikawa

Eri Saikawa is an Associate Professor at Emory University, a Winship Distinguished research professor of the environmental sciences, and the Director of Emory Climate Talks.

She conducts interdisciplinary research on the environment. I have worked on diverse projects that cover: 1) atmospheric chemistry (modeling aerosols and tropospheric ozone); 2) environmental health (assessing the adverse health impacts of air pollution); 3) biogeochemistry (modeling global soil nitrous oxide emissions and quantifying soil GHG/ammonia fluxes); 4) climate science (estimating emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases), and 5) environmental policy/politics (analyzing the impacts of environmental standards and trade as well as analyzing policymaking processes).

Her main research questions are related to the source and the magnitude of emissions linked to air pollution, ozone depletion, and climate change, as well as the impacts of these emissions on humans and on society. She is also interested in what policy measures are available to reduce these emissions, and how politics play a role in the policymaking process.

Eri's current projects are: 1) assessing the impact of agricultural practices on soil GHG/ammonia fluxes; 2) using low-cost air quality sensors to measure air quality; 3) creating a prototype of anaerobic digestion for reducing food waste on campus; 4) assessing the impact of plastic burning on human health and ambient air quality in Guatemala; 5) assessing the link between air quality exposure and asthma and 6) understand and mitigate the current and possible future soil heavy metal and metalloid and other chemical contaminant exposure among children in the Westside of Atlanta. Our research is funded by the Emory Global Health Institute, the Emory SVPR AT THE INTERSECTION Fund, Emory Halle Institute, Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and Syngenta.

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