Hi, I'm Drew. Welcome to my low-sodium, boneless, artisanally-crafted website! I am a postdoctoral associate at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment and an incoming assistant professor of environmental studies and sciences at Oberlin College; also, I am reluctant to resort to black magic. Be aware that this website is very large, and some of it is randomly generated. For the full experience, reload a bunch of times and navigate as follows:
- If you are interested in my SCIENTIFIC WORK: In my scientific research, I use satellite data to track pollution back to its source and monitor emissions in real time, and I maintain free open-source software that allows others to do the same. If you want to learn more, check out out my ongoing projects, research papers, conference presentations, and environmental datasets. Everything is open access, and you can find a general-audience explanation of each of the publications I led in my newsletter.
- If you are interested in my INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK: My interdisciplinary work imagines how humanity can democratically govern itself in an age of environmental crisis. With collaborators, I imagine the sorts of institutions and protocols that advance economic democracy within planetary boundaries, with an emphasis on connecting science with (1) social movements and (2) economic planning. This work has taken the form of books, video games, public writing, and academic publications.
- If you are interested in MY CV: you can download it here.
- If you are interested in MISCELLANEOUS: This website is big because I have had it since high school and I don't delete things. If you search for it, you can find ephemera I have made over the years, including original music.
- If you are interested in HUMAN CONTACT: I can be reached at drew [at] drewpendergrass [dot] com or at the academic address in my CV. For upcoming events, check out my events page. You can follow me on Bluesky or LinkedIn. The best way to follow my work is to subscribe to my newsletter below (expect emails every six months or so at most):
Upcoming events
Talk: Socialismo di Metà-Terra book tour (Milan, Italy)
Date: 28 March 2026 at 3pm CET
Location: Piano Terra: Via Federico Confalonieri, 1, 20124 Milano
I will discuss the Italian translation of my book with Andrea Fumagalli, Gianluca Pozzoni, and Elisabetta Corrà at Piano Terra in Milan.
Poster: Methane Action for People and Planet (Ispra, Italy)
Date: 30 March 2026 at 12pm CET
Location: European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC)
I will be at the Methane Action for People and Planet conference, presenting my work on global methane emissions and trends as well as further developments to CHEEREIO which illuminate reactive nitrogen emissions. My poster will be up on March 30 and April 1 and I will be there during coffee breaks.
Talk: 12th International GEOS-Chem Meeting (St. Louis, MO)
Date: 8 June 2026 at TBD
Location: Washington University in St. Louis
I will be at the GEOS-Chem meeting, giving (1) a workshop on using CHEEREIO and (2) a talk on my recent reactive nitrogen emissions results.
Additional events, future and past, are available on my events page.
You can learn more about my research on the projects page, or you can read through all of our scientific papers and presentations on their respective pages.
A featured interdisciplinary project!
Half-Earth Socialism: A Planetary Crisis Planning Game
The Half-Earth Socialism planning game allows anyone to try their hand as a global planner of a post-capitalist science fiction society. The player aims to overcome the environmental crisis, global poverty and inequality, and pursue other goals, all while keeping global parliament happy (else the player will find themselves out of a job, or worse). Consider it a sandbox where you can play with a wide range of technologies and policies spanning different fields and ideologies. The game simulates the impact of your decisions by calculating emissions and using a real climate model (HECTOR) to work out the climate effects, while also simulating impacts to the food system and biodiversity, among other natural systems. The video game is based on my book, Half-Earth Socialism, and was made by a team including Francis Tseng, Son La Pham, Troy Vettese, and myself.
Play more of my games here.
A random media appearance
Tech Won't Save Us with Paris Marx (podcast)
12 May 2022 | Listen here
My co-author Troy Vettese and I talk about our book Half-Earth Socialism, and our attitude towards technology, with Paris Marx.
Additional interviews and media are available on my interviews page.
All the cool kids are using CHEEREIO!
CHEEREIO is a tool that uses observations of pollutants in the atmosphere, measured from satellites or surface stations, to correct supercomputer models that simulate the Earth. Powerful use cases for CHEEREIO include tracking pollution back to its source, even if there are no local observations on the ground, and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in near-real-time. Read more on my projects page or the offical CHEEREIO site.
