Roll up your sleeves UB, your to-do-list is about to grow.

That message, delivered Wednesday by Vice President Kamala Harris at the Center for the Arts, centered on a key part of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act: fighting climate change.

It’s work for which UB, a flagship of SUNY, has a long and impressive resume. From helping to expose toxins buried at Love Canal to current efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions and predicting sea level rise, UB is poised to play an ever greater role ensuring the nation’s path toward a more sustainable future.

“The work that is happening here,” Harris said of UB and the greater Buffalo area, “is very exciting and really a model for our country.”

The call came for Srikrithi Krishnan early in the week.

It was from the office of President Satish K. Tripathi, where she had worked as an undergraduate. A student would be introducing Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to UB on Wednesday, the office explained.

Would she be interested?

“Oh my God, I was so excited,” said Srikrithi, a first-year graduate student majoring in public health and business administration. “Initially, I was like ‘Is this real life? Is this happening?’”

So, Srikrithi — who goes by Sri (pronounced Shree) — set aside her studies for the day and got started on her introduction early Tuesday.

“It was an incredible privilege to host Vice President Kamala Harris at UB for this historic visit.

“We are honored that the White House chose to come to UB to promote the administration’s investment in climate action through the Inflation Reduction Act, and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to share with the vice president the meaningful ways that our students and faculty are bringing their research and scholarship to bear on one of the most monumental challenges of our time.”