Sivakumar Awarded College Grant for Weatherization Research

Assistant Professor of Design Akshita Sivakumar is one of fourteen faculty members from the College of Letters and Science who were selected in June to have their research supported by the college’s Regeneration Research Program — a program which came about as a way to sustain research as funding opportunities have become scarcer. Sivakumar is a designer, architect, and technoscience studies scholar whose work lies at the confluence of governance, social movements, technology, and the built environment.

Sivakumar’s project will analyze contradictions in California’s decarbonization efforts. While the state has some of the most ambitious decarbonization policies in the country for new construction, it has some of the most energy-burdened, marginalized communities, such as farmworkers. She will analyze energy reductions and weatherization practices in buildings that often involve the installation of heat pumps and zero-emission cooling, sealing and insulating. Her project is aptly titled "The Design of Weatherization: Sociotechnical Approaches for a Just Energy Transition."

The research topic is timely. On August 28, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2313 ("Home Energy Choice Act") to redirect natural gas replacement funds and present the option to homeowners to change their appliances entirely to electric, including both their heating and cooling system and oven. There are provisions in the proposed law for reaching disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Sivakumar is the principal of the Collective for Socio-Spatial and Environmental Praxis (CoSEP) research group at UC Davis, which since 2023 has methodically explored the "nature of designing and governing the built environment to facilitate the fullness of life." Early in 2026, Sivakumar presented her "Canary in the Coal Mine" project at the annual Science and Technology Studies (STS) conference of the Society of the Social Studies of Science (4S) in Seattle. The project analyzes the role and efficacy of public comments in environmental governance to train newcomers in the broader repertoire of environmental justice activism.

The Regeneration Research Program is designed to help faculty fill gaps created by the current constrained funding environment. Grant awards range from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on proposed needs and budget justification. The awardees were selected by the college’s Research Support Committee.