One on One with Dr. Ajibade: ‘The Pursuit of ‘Care’

Author: Sonya Doubledee

Revised by Dr. Ajibade

Editors: Clara Conry and Jared Shirts

“I don’t place the climate crisis above everything else. I place human relations and our care for one another much higher.”

“How can we bridge the gap between conservation and environmental justice advocates when the two groups have very different goals and motivations?” “Is the continual housing discrimination indicative of government failure?” “How can government officials and institutions be held responsible for their actions in perpetuating disparities?”

These are questions that Dr. Jola Ajibade’s students want to know, and she always does her best to find the answers. Through discussions of racial capitalism, colonialism, the Flint Water Crisis, and Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Ajibade has crafted a curriculum that looks at the ‘why.’

For Dr. Ajibade, the state of our planet is not just a question of climate risk, but the pursuit of care. Current climate emissions are being caused by overconsumption and an extractive economic system. How do we move away from this consumption-first mindset? How can we imagine a new future that is less extractive?

“I don’t place the climate crisis above everything else. I place human relations and our care for one another much higher,” said Dr. Ajibade. “If we truly care for one another, that care extends to the environment.”

Dr. Ajibade’s road to researching environmental justice hasn’t been linear. Before she was a professor, she pursued law, thinking it was “the only way one could make a difference.” However, she was accepted into a philosophy program. Through this research, Dr. Ajibade discovered a passion for researching development issues, focusing on societal issues and their relation to the maldistribution of resources. When her brother was diagnosed with cancer, these plans came to a halt.

“He kept connecting his health back to environmental health,” said Dr. Ajibade. “Even when we try to lead a clean life and do everything right, somehow, some of us get our genes transformed by particular toxins.”

Before his death at the age of 30, he encouraged her to consider a new career path. For her brother, the environment was a gateway to creating change.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you work on the environment, because he felt the environment […] is not just an issue that has a human dimension, it is a very complex issue. That is the future.’”

In the wake of her brother’s passing, she sought a PhD degree in Geography and Environmental Sustainability. After returning to Nigeria and witnessing a flood that tore through Lagos, she dedicated her research to understanding the direct impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise and natural disasters.

Now an Emory professor, Dr. Ajibade’s classes and research focus on understanding root cause issues and the disproportionate effects of climate change impacts on communities of color and impoverished regions.

Traditional forms of environmental regulation look towards adaptation and mitigation measures. Technical improvements such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars look great on paper but are extractive in practice. Mining of minerals for these renewable resources inevitably leaves communities, often those who emit the least, vulnerable to pollution. When Dr. Ajibade imagines solutions, she urges her peers to think beyond ‘how do we mitigate current bad practices,’ and instead question “that ‘American Dream’ of everybody having these massive houses, multiple cars, multiple gardens [because it’s] not realistic any more. […] The idea that we can still continue to grow endlessly, and simultaneously address climate change […] is antithetical to each other.”

The solution is more complicated than newer technology. The issue is a human problem and thus requires a human solution.

When asked “What’s the one thing you wish people understood about the environment?” Dr. Ajibade replied, “I wish people would care more.”

Misplaced values and lack of care for those living elsewhere have fueled overconsumption. We are told to buy the newest iPhone each year, that older cars are less reliable, and that tech companies are the saviors of the future. What most people gloss over is the continual pattern of production and consumption that leaves thousands in third-world countries living in immense poverty.

Caring for one another necessitates a change in how “we interact and breaking down the silos of race, class, and gender [to] really treat each other humanely and support one another. If you have excess, share that with people. We don’t need to be producing and creating demands, that’s what companies do,” said Dr. Ajibade.

Transformation begins with a breakdown of social divisions. Though a future of community-centered living sounds idealistic, Dr. Ajibade believes imagining a new future is the first step toward radical change. Societal divisions are the silos companies use to create demands.

How do we even begin to tear down these structures? It can seem daunting, almost impossible.

However, for Dr. Ajibade, it’s relatively simple: “It’s because of a lack of care, for society, for the environment, for themselves. Because if you see yourself as part of the whole, why would you want to destroy […] your own body? Because we don’t remember that our body, everything is connected to the environment, and we keep pillaging and destroying and polluting it. So, if we can care for one another and care for the environment in radical ways, I think we may begin to see some shift in our economic systems, our social system, in our policy, our politics and even environment.”

If you are interested in joining Dr. Ajibade’s lab, consider taking ENVS 285: Climate Solutions and Social Justice in the Spring semester 2025.

For more information about her lab and ongoing research projects, visit. https://www.jolaajibade.com/