Erica Bower graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College Class of 2014, with dual majors in Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Her research interests lay at the intersection of these disciplines -- the human rights implications of climate change for people displaced on the frontlines. Building on field work conducted in the Nepali Himalayas while studying abroad during her Junior year, her Honors Thesis focused on the relationship between climate change impacts and human mobility patterns, and what legal and policy frameworks exist to protect the rights of these populations on the move.
Outside the classroom, she was a member of GreenBorough Sustainability Living Community, Consilience Journal of Sustainable Development, SEEJ (Students for Environmental and Economic Justice), Columbia University Photography Society, and a hiking leader with COOP (Columbia Outdoor Orientation Program).
Since graduation, she has continued work inspired by her undergraduate research interest in climate change and displacement, including research and policy roles for UN Agencies, NGOs and a government-led consultation process known as the Nansen Initiative. Most recently, she worked to advance policy, legal and practical solutions to protect the rights of people forced to flee their homes after disasters, as the Climate Change and Disaster Displacement Specialist at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva Headquarters. She also completed a Master of Science in Forced Migration Studies from Oxford University Department of International Development's Refugee Studies Centre.
The Myra Kraft Prize for Exceptional Practical Experience in Human Rights Advocacy was, in retrospect, the catalyst that has shaped her career trajectory ever since. Interning for the UNHCR in summer 2013 cemented her professional interests in addressing climate change impacts on displaced populations, helped her to build a network of actors in this field, and has indirectly led to every position she has held since.
