Nicole Hernández Hammer ( Hernández Estrada) is a Guatemalan-American climate scientist and activist studying

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...

and the disproportionate impacts of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

on communities of color. She is a climate advocate for the

Union of Concerned Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmenta ...

and former deputy director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies.

Early life and education

Nicole Hernández was born to Óscar Hernández and Maria Eugenia Estrada Nicolle, in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. Her father is a

pulmonologist Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract.

of Cuban heritage, and her mother, who died in 2017, was Guatemalan. She has two brothers, one of whom is actor

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is a Guatemalan-born American actor. Known for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his gener ...

. At the age of four, her family migrated to the United States. The family lived in various states before settling in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. When Hammer was an infant, her family experienced a substantial earthquake and when she was a teenager in 1992,

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...

destroyed the family's home in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

; as a result, she and her family lost everything. She earned her bachelor's degree in integrated natural sciences from the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

, as well as an M.S. in biology from

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

, and an MBA from

Palm Beach Atlantic University Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) is a private Christian university in West Palm Beach, Florida. The university's nine colleges focus on the liberal arts with a select collection of professional studies. In 2019, its undergraduate enrollme ...

Research and career

Research

Hammer's research is focused on how

is affecting communities of color and low-income communities. Hammer made the connection that Latino populations are very vulnerable to

compared to other populations. With this information, she was determined to spread the message through outreach and further research. In 2013, Hammer was a part of the Climate Assessment of Southeast US to further assess the damage of infrastructure due to sea level rise.

Public outreach

Over the years, she has done many interviews and publications on the effects of sea level rise on communities of color. Hammer is directly involved in outreach to the general public; she regrets not taking more

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

courses in college because her work entails explaining the complexities of climate change to ordinary people. Her work has been discussed in outlets including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. In 2015, Hammer presented then-Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

a report on climate change's effects in Florida yet she was allegedly instructed by his administration to remove all mention of climate change (which he denies). In 2016, Hammer attended the Climate March and spoke to several news networks on how important research funding from the government is for tracking the changes of the earth from climate change. She was also on a panel for

Amy Poehler's Smart Girls Amy Poehler's Smart Girls is an organization and website aimed at helping young women with life's problems in a funny but informative way. It was founded by actress Amy Poehler, Executive Director Meredith Walker, who was the former senior producer ...

where she talked about the disproportionate impacts of climate change on communities of color. In general, she communicates on how important it is for the government to become involved in combating climate change for future generations. Additionally, Hammer has done outreach in the political sphere as well. She spoke at the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in June 2016, on how climate change is an immediate concern for the country through the effects of rising sea levels on vulnerable Latino communities. She communicated direct immediate actions the government can take to relieve the stresses of rising sea levels and pollution on Latino communities. Her public outreach also extends to Latino communities to make climate change information more accessible to those who need it most. While working at

Moms Clean Air Force Moms Clean Air Force is a nonprofit, grassroots environmentalism, environmental advocacy group, based in the United States, which focuses on protecting children from air pollution. It has chapters in 26 states and more than a million members, an ...

, she worked to develop Spanish outreach materials on climate change so that individuals can arm themselves with information they need to protect themselves. Additionally, while working at the

, a nonprofit that informs people about climate change, she led

climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InClimat ...

projects for not only Latino communities but all communities. Her goal is to help to inform Latino voters on issues of climate change and empower them to talk to their local officials.

Honors and awards

In 2015, Hammer was invited to the

State of the Union Address The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...

by First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

to spread awareness about climate change and its effects on communities of color.

Personal life

Hammer now lives in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. She and her husband have a son. Hammer credits her mother for instilling in her the need to protect the environment.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Hammer, Nicole American people of Guatemalan descent Florida Atlantic University alumni Palm Beach Atlantic University alumni University of South Florida alumni American climatologists Women climatologists American women environmentalists American environmentalists Guatemalan people of Cuban descent Florida Democrats Living people Year of birth missing (living people)