Spotlight on Jane Zelikova, Executive Director of Sustainability Research Initiatives, CU Boulder
An ecologist by training, she’s spent the past two decades studying how ecological systems respond to climate change.
Jane Zelikova is the Executive Director of the Sustainability Research Initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder. An ecologist by training, she’s spent the past two decades studying how ecological systems respond to climate change. In this conversation, she reflects on her unconventional journey, her experience across different sectors, and how a neighborhood garden collective has become her own form of climate resilience.
Hannah Davis conducted the interview in May 2025. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you walk us through your path into climate work?
Jane: It wasn’t intentional. When I went to college, I double-majored briefly in anthropology and Russian literature, but I took one ecology class and immediately switched majors. You got to be outside and my professor, Judy Meyer, wore a black T-shirt that said “Question Everything” on the first day of class. I changed my major that day.
I wasn’t thinking about climate at all—I was obsessed with species interactions, particularly mutualisms, where two species both benefit from their relationship. For my PhD I studied ants that disperse seeds in the Southeast. These ants carry seeds to their nests, eat the fatty appendage on the seed called an elaiosome, and dump the seed in a nutrient-rich trash pile, where it can germinate. It’s a beautiful, tightly evolved relationship.
Eventually, I learned that the ants I was studying were impacted by climate change. That realization led me to ask: how will this mutualism respond to a warming world? That question shaped my dissertation and pulled me into climate research. It was through studying these relationships that I found myself tracking how ecosystems respond to climate change. After grad school I continued to focus on climate change, but my work was initially driven more by intellectual curiosity than a particular feeling about a dire need for climate change research or action.
How did your work evolve after grad school?
Jane: Studying ants and seed dispersal led me to soils. I wasn’t particularly interested in soil, but I did really love playing in dirt and there was a lot to learn. As a postdoc, I worked on two large-scale climate change experiments simulating future climate conditions. We were interested in understanding what happens to ecological processes when temperature and precipitation regimes change and specifically asking whether nutrients and carbon cycles shift in these systems? And the answer is absolutely yes, but in ways that are really hard to predict.
I studied how warming and changes in moisture affect soil microbes, plant responses, and nutrient cycles. That's how I got into biogeochemistry—understanding how carbon and nitrogen move through soils.
At first, I approached the work with intellectual curiosity. But over time, I couldn't ignore the emotional weight of it. I was documenting fundamental changes to ecosystems in real time—sometimes loss—and that started to affect me. I didn't get into this work because I was emotionally driven by climate change, but after 20 years, I'm full of feelings about it.
If you weren’t originally motivated by climate change, is that part of your motivation now two decades into this work?
Jane: I still think I'm fundamentally an optimist when it comes to the ability of ecological systems to bounce back from major disturbances.
At the same time, I recognize that we're fundamentally changing the world in ways that can’t be undone. Some of what we've lost is gone for good—and we have to mourn that. We also have to reckon with our own responsibility for those changes.
It's not just a detached, abstract loss—like, oh, a species disappeared. We're not separate from that loss. We're part of it. In fact, we're often the cause of it.
And that brings up a lot of feelings.
But in my work, I keep coming back to how complex and resilient ecological systems can be. They’re full of redundancies and unexpected ways of rebounding. Even after we're gone—or after we finally change our ways—some of what’s been lost may come back.
That’s where my optimism lies.
Still, I can’t ignore the loss. It's literally my job to witness it, to document it. So of course, there are emotions tied up in that too.
You’ve worked across sectors and adjacent to startups. What have you learned from that mix of experiences?
Jane: I’ve worked across universities, government, and nonprofits, and now I’m back in academia. My path has included research science, policy roles, nonprofit work, and close collaboration with companies—from startups to large corporations—and advising impact investment funds. While I’ve never worked in a company, I’ve had a look under the hood of how different sectors engage in sustainability and climate work.
Through all of that, I’ve learned that I’m most at home in inquiry-driven environments. I’ve never been motivated by profit, and when that’s the driving force, I tend to disengage. Knowing that helps clarify where I do my best work.
Now, I serve as Executive Director of the Sustainability Research Initiative at CU Boulder, which works across academic units to elevate and connect sustainability research and foster uncommon collaborations. I don’t lead a personal research program, but I contribute where my expertise is needed and think more broadly about how to direct inquiry toward real-world impact.
I help bridge the gap between science and application—ensuring research addresses complex sustainability and climate challenges in more holistic, inclusive, and actionable ways.
What kinds of research are you hoping to support in your new role at CU?
Jane: I'm still early in the role, but I’m thinking a lot about energy systems and the built environment—how we rebuild physical and institutional systems in more sustainable, inclusive ways. I’m also excited about supporting social science and humanities work alongside engineering and climate science. If we build amazing low-carbon technologies but no one wants to use them, we've missed the mark. Including communities in the design process is key.
Is there a climate intervention you’re excited about right now?
Jane: I’ve been intrigued by enhanced rock weathering. It sounds wild, but the idea is to crush up specific rocks and add them to soil, where they bind with CO₂ and eventually sequester it. There are co-benefits too, like improving soil health.
I visited a project recently and it was really cool to see it in action. One of the winners of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Prize, which I am a judge for, is doing this work. We’re at a point where we need to throw all the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks—this might be one of the things we can get to stick.
You’re a co-founder of 500 Women Scientists. What’s the story behind it, and where is it today?
Jane: It started as a text thread between four friends during the 2016 election. We were scientists frustrated by the rise of misogyny and anti-science rhetoric. We decided to write a pledge: to fight for equity and justice in our own institutions. We called it 500 Women Scientists because we hoped to get 500 signatures—it exploded from there.
We built a volunteer-powered organization that ran programs, published resources, and supported women in science. But burnout set in. By 2022, we had to let go of staff and sunset many programs. We’re now in a quieter phase, run by a small team of volunteers. We're not trying to launch big new programs. We're trying to be a place for people to connect, push back against anti-science actions and authoritarianism, and share resources. We’re still figuring out what this phase looks like.
Outside of work, are there any climate- or sustainability-related projects you’re passionate about?
Jane: Yes! My neighbors and I started a community garden collective. It began with a joke about tearing down our fences to create one big garden, and turned into something real. We now have 34 households involved on our street. People contribute however they can—some grow extra food, others share seedlings or lend tools. We do weekly veggie swaps, help each other with garden planning, and just hang out.
It's community resilience, climate adaptation, and resistance to authoritarianism all wrapped together. It’s something tangible, joyful, and grounding. Plus, I get to dig in the dirt with my kids. It’s been a lifeline.
You can follow Jane on LinkedIn or learn more about Jane’s work at CU Boulder’s Sustainability Research Initiative. For a weekly dose of climate news, check out her blog and newsletter at 500womenscientists.org.