Climate CLT is a public history and community mapping project that explores the past, present, and future of environmental justice in Charlotte, North Carolina. Led by professors and students at UNC Charlotte, we serve as an interdisciplinary research and community outreach hub, dedicated to spreading awareness about climate change, historical social injustices caused by environmental disturbances, and honoring our city’s proud history of environmental justice leadership. We collaborate with artists, educators, youth, and community leaders to share stories, data, and resources for building climate resilience.

The project began in 2021 as a collaboration between Dr. Tina Shull, K-12 CMS teacher fellows at the Charlotte Teachers Institute, and students in UNC Charlotte’s Public History program. Together, we partnered with Climates of Inequality, a public memory project led by the Humanities Action Lab at Rutgers University, to curate an exhibit that ran at the Levine Museum of the New South in the summer of 2023. 

On this website, you’ll find a page featuring our exhibit, Climate Refugees in the City of Creeks, a Climate Inequality CLT Atlas mapping environmental, health, and socioeconomic indicators across Mecklenburg County, multimedia Stories, and additional resources including a primary source Archive and Climate Curriculum. 

The Stories featured on our site were created by History graduate students and student research assistants under the leadership of Dr. Tina Shull, director of Public History at UNC Charlotte from 2022-2024. Graduate students in Dr. Shull’s “History in the Digital Age” course spent an academic semester in the Fall of 2022 researching histories that highlighted inequity, social injustice, environmental racism, gentrification, and urban renewal in Charlotte.

About the Atlas: Our Atlas features a series of maps that highlight key climate and environmental burden indicators, as well as health and socioeconomic data for the Charlotte region. It was developed through a Gambrell Faculty Fellowship (Michael Ewers, Tina Shull, & Adreonna Bennett) from the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and with support from ChART (Center for Community, Heritage, and the Arts). Contributors include Maya Fleagle, Mohsin Raza, Die Hu, Zachery Slocum, and Mars Grubbs. 

Climate Inequality CLT was created in partnership with the Charlotte Teachers Institute and the Humanities Action Lab, a coalition of universities led by Rutgers University-Newark. They collaborate with public spaces and institutions that are passionate about showcasing important social issues from the past, present, and future. Today, Climate Inequality CLT is guided by UNC Charlotte students, faculty directors, and a Community Advisory Board.