Cha, J. Mijin
J. Mijin Cha
Dr. J. Mijin Cha is an expert in climate change, environmental and climate justice, and just transition. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the Environmental Studies Department, a fellow at Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute, and a fellow at the Climate and Community Project. Dr. Cha spent a decade as a policy researcher for several nonprofits and think tanks before transitioning to academia. She is also a member of the California Bar, a Greenpeace USA Fund board member, and a board member at the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment.
Cha, J.M., 2023. Jobs, Justice, Climate: An overview of the labor movement response to green transformations in the U.S, translated into Korean, “미국의 생태전환에 대한 노동계의 대응,” Korea Labor Institute, 21(3).
Cha, J.M.,2023. The Future of the Labor-Climate Alliance. Dissent Special Issue: What’s Next for the Climate Left?
Cha, J.M., Pastor, M. 2022. Just Transition: Framing, Organizing, and Power-Building for Decarbonization. Energy Research and Social Science. 90. 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102588
Cha, J.M., November 2020. A just transition for whom? Politics, contestation, and social identity in the disruption of coal in the Powder River Basin. Energy Research and Social Science, 69(101657).
Cha, J.M., Holgate, J., Yon, K., November 2018. Emergent Cultures of Activism: Young People and the Building of Alliances Between Unions and Other Social Movements. Work and Occupations, 45(4), 451-474.
Cha, J.M., 2024. A Just Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon-free Future. MIT Press. forthcoming
Dr. J. Mijin Cha received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Cornell University in 1997. She moved to California to attend the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, where she obtained a J.D. in International Law in 2001. She then went to SOAS University of London, receiving an LL.M. with Merit in Environmental Law in 2002. She completed her education with a Ph.D. in Comparative Environmental Law and Justice from SOAS University of London in 2005. Dr. Cha is a member of the California Bar.
While working on her Ph.D., Dr. Cha was a Visiting Legal Researcher at the Goa Foundation in 2003. In 2004, she was a Visiting Staff Attorney at the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment. After finishing her Ph.D. in 2005, Dr. Cha worked with progressive think tanks and policy nonprofits for over a decade to develop a grounded sense of public policy focusing on climate policy, green jobs, and environmental justice. From 2005 to 2006, Dr. Cha began working for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. She led a Ford Foundation Project, creating literacy toolkits and legal analyses for local communities addressing environmental injustices in the Himalayan region.
From 2005 to 2007, she was also an External Academic Advisor for The International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2006, she joined the Progressive States Network as a Senior Policy Specialist. She held that role until 2008, when she joined the Urban Agenda as Director of Campaign Research. She led the Green Collar Jobs Roundtable, bringing together 170 organizations to promote an equitable green economy in New York City. In 2009, Dr. Cha began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School. She taught environmental justice until 2016. In 2011, Dr. Cha became a Senior Policy Analyst at the non-partisan think tank Demos. At Demos, Dr. Cha led research on sustainability and climate change, voting reform, and money in politics. She authored reports including “Stacked Deck: How the Dominance of Politics by the Affluent and Business Undermines Economic Mobility in America.” Her research was covered by the Huffington Post, Dissent, and the American Prospect.
Dr. Cha joined the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment Board in 2012. In 2013, she became a Fellow at Cornell University’s Worker Institute. In 2014, Dr. Cha became Associate Director at Policy Link, focusing on equitable economic efforts, community health, and racial equity. She led the creation of the National Equity Atlas, a data resource of equitable growth indicators.
In 2016, Dr. Cha fully transitioned to academia, becoming an Assistant Professor at Occidental College. In 2022, she was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2023, she returned to California as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Cha has been “fortunate to have a series of kind, generous, and brilliant mentors, including the late Luke Cole, who started the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment and was a true environmental justice champion” (2023). She also names Dr. Manuel Pastor as a mentor with whom she has collaborated on several research projects. Many people have been generous with their time and insights throughout Dr. Cha’s career. She believes mentoring has been crucial to her personal and intellectual development, believing that good mentors provide guidance and feedback while helping you discover your voice and path.
Dr. Cha is grateful to those who invested in her and celebrate her success. She strives to pass that along to others. “Learning from my mentors, it is important to invest in and nurture future generations. My mentoring philosophy is to provide guidance and my insight but ultimately allow people to develop their own paths. Mentoring is a two-way path, and I learn as much from people I mentor as I hope they learn from me” (2023).
“It’s very hard to stay true to yourself and your values. People will doubt you and make you question yourself, especially if you take a non-traditional path or you question those in power. Be confident in who you are and your work! Always be curious and ask questions- learning is a lifelong commitment. And it’s never too late. However that applies to you, it’s never too late” (Cha, 2023).
Mijin Cha. n.d. Home [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmijin/]. LinkedIn. Retrieved October 5, 2023 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmijin/.
Survey and interviews conducted by Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative staff. 2022-2023. Yale University-School of the Environment. New Haven, Connecticut.