Holly Jean Buck, a Cornell University doctoral alumna whose work examines climate policy and rural communities, is among 20 people selected for a 2026 MacArthur Fellowship.
The fellowship carries an unrestricted $800,000 award. Buck, who earned a doctorate in development sociology from Cornell in 2017, is now an associate professor of environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo, according to a Cornell Chronicle profile.
The MacArthur Foundation selects fellows through a confidential nomination process rather than applications. Buck told Cornell she thought a call from the foundation concerned research funding and was surprised to learn she had been selected.
Her research focuses on climate change, environmental policy and how people, particularly those in rural areas, participate in decisions about emerging technologies. The foundation cited her attention to the social realities of shifting to cleaner energy and to the role of communities in shaping that change.
At Cornell, Buck studied food systems and poverty reduction in East Africa. Her dissertation also examined public engagement in Finnish Arctic communities over proposals to reflect sunlight as a way to cool the planet.
She has written two books on climate policy. “After Geoengineering,” published in 2019, explored potential uses and consequences of technologies intended to alter the environment in response to climate change. Her 2021 book, “Ending Fossil Fuels,” argued that emissions accounting cannot substitute for ending the use of coal, oil and gas.
Buck is working on another book about rural communities' roles in developing technologies ranging from agriculture to semiconductors. She told Cornell she hopes the fellowship will give her time for that project.
Her recent work has included interviews, focus groups and surveys about public views of climate technology and the transition from fossil fuels. She has also contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body that assesses climate science.
Stephen Hilgartner, a Cornell professor who served on Buck's doctoral committee, described her as a researcher able to connect science, technology and the social consequences of public policy. Buck said the award is welcome but does not replace sustained public funding for climate research.
The MacArthur Foundation describes the fellowship as a no-strings-attached investment in recipients' future work. Cornell alumni Manuel Muñoz and Ling Ma were among previous recipients in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.
