Heat exhaustion cases, air pollution-induced asthma and emergency inhalers — these were the things Giancarlo Ceja said he noticed and experienced when he was growing up in disadvantaged areas within Riverside County.

Years later, he said these lived experiences guided him from USC classrooms to environmental justice research, work on environmental policy implementation at the White House and, now, his selection as a 2026–27 Schwarzman Scholar.

The Schwarzman Scholars program, founded in 2016, is designed to “meet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond,” according to the program’s website. Every year, the program selects up to 200 students worldwide out of more than 4,000 applicants for a fully funded one-year master’s program in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

“What I really adore about Schwarzman [Scholars] is that it gives you, number one, a low-risk environment … to go to China, where they’re accelerating their climate technology and their climate prowess,” said Ceja, a staffer for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “To go learn about that and experience it in real time, especially at a university like Tsinghua, one of the top universities in the world, is an amazing opportunity.”

Shannon Gibson, a teaching professor of environmental studies, political science and international relations who Ceja took several courses from, said Ceja’s selection is “wonderful.”

“This is what every professor dreams of and wants — to see our students take the topics that we devoted our lives to teaching about,” Gibson said. “Hopefully [he can] go on and do way bigger and better things than we even thought of.”

Ceja, who graduated from Dornsife in May 2024 with dual bachelor’s degrees in environmental studies as well as international relations and affairs, said he did not arrive at the University with a clear plan to focus on environmental injustice.

It was not until he started taking classes in environmental policy and international affairs that he began to connect childhood experiences to broader structural inequities shaped by race, income and geography, Ceja said.

“There’s way more heat exhaustion cases within Riverside County than there [are] in more affluent parts … All the air that comes in from Orange County and Los Angeles County gets coalesced within the Inland Empire, which leads to high asthmatic rates,” Ceja said. “I didn’t know these things … [when I was] growing up.”

After graduation, Ceja entered public service at the White House. He helped implement climate investments under the Inflation Reduction Act as an intern and fellow before landing his current position as a House Committee on Energy and Commerce staffer.

“[I also] learned the limitations of an executive order [and] the limitations of a newly created federal office,” Ceja said. “There’s only so much the federal government can do in its current stature.”

Ceja said his realization, combined with his interest in China’s approach to large-scale climate planning and investment in renewable energy, made him apply to Schwarzman Scholars.

“At the moment, you see the current political environment where the U.S. pulls out of climate agreements … [which reflects] our inability to get a foreign side binding deal done,” Ceja said. “In China, this isn’t an issue … This is a significant period where the world is diverging in terms of its ability to meet the climate crisis.”

Sean Fraga, assistant professor in environmental studies and history and faculty nominator of Ceja for his Schwarzman Scholar application, said the opportunity to study China’s green transition aligns closely with Ceja’s interest in the intersection of politics and environmental policy.

“[Ceja] has gained so much work experience in the executive branch and the legislative branch,” Fraga said. “This opportunity to go back to school is a chance to take those experiences, get a little distance from them and think about them in an academic context.”

Ceja said he hopes his Schwarzman Scholar experience will give him the tools needed to address environmental injustices through policy when he returns from the program.

“I really don’t care about being a face to a movement,” Ceja said. “I care about the work getting done … So I don’t think you’ll see me in a headline running for whatever district. I think if you ever see me, I’d rather be on a report or an initiative, or on a grant, legitimately making the change for the communities that need it most.”