Nicole Hernandez Hammer

Nicole Hernández Hammer ( Hernández Estrada) is a Guatemalan-American climate scientist and activist studying sea level rise and the disproportionate impacts of climate change on communities of color. She is a climate advocate for the Union of Concerned Scientists 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. Her father is a pulmonologist of Cuban heritage, and her mother, who died in 2017, was Guatemalan. She has two brothers, one of whom is actor Oscar Isaac. At the age of four, her family migrated to the United States. The family lived in various states before settling in Florida. When Hammer was an infant, her family experienced a substantial earthquake and when she was a teenager in 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed the family's home in Miami; 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, as well as an M.S. in biology from Florida Atlantic University, and an MBA from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Research and career Research Hammer's research is focused on how climate change is affecting communities of color and low-income communities. Hammer made the connection that Latino populations are very vulnerable to sea level rise 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.