Sustainability
Starting in college, ecological sustainability became one of the focal points of my professional and personal life. Through engaging in sustainability-related organizations, I learned more about this crucial topic and have organized sustainability-related outreach events as an undergraduate and graduate student.
Graduate Student Chapter of the Student Sustainability Center
Colorado State University
2021 - 2024
During my first semester of graduate school, I organized the Graduate Student Chapter of the Student Sustainability Center. This student group sought to equip graduate students who are interested in sustainability-related careers with professional skills that are relevant in graduate school and beyond. This organization is open to all graduate students and serves as an opportunity for graduate students from a diverse array of professional backgrounds to meet and network.
For the first event, I hosted a grant writing seminar featuring invited faculty speakers from Colorado State University to offer advice and suggestions for effectively applying for grants to fund research projects.
During the spring of 2022, I worked with staff from Colorado State University and the local Poudre School District to help organize a climate summit for local high school students hosted by Colorado State University (see below picture). During this summit, over 200 high school students attended and listened to sustainability-related talks presented by Colorado State University faculty and researchers. Due to the overwhelming success of this event, Colorado State University hosted additional summits in the spring of 2023 and 2025.
During the fall of 2022, I have coordinated sustainability outreach events in which graduate students and I go to local high schools and give presentations on the sustainability-related research that we are conducting. This is an excellent way to emphasize the importance of sustainability with high school students and answer their questions about sustainable career paths.
FAST Conference Keynote Address
In the fall of 2023, I was invited to deliver a keynote address at the first Faithfully Advancing Sustainability Together conference at Calvin University. This conference focused on encouraging undergraduate students to promote sustainability within their respective institutions and communities and help them develop the necessary skills to do so.
Click here to watch my keynote address!
COP 28
In the fall of 2023, I represented the Colorado State University delegation at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Here, I observed global climate negotiations, engaged with youth climate advocates from across the world, and gave a presentation about how to foster effective climate action from younger generations.
Click here for an article about my experience at this global conference!
Citizens' Climate Lobby
Starting the spring of 2024, I became a member of the Fort Collins Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby: a nonpartisan organization that advocates for climate action. As a part of this group, I traveled to Washington DC to meet with the offices of members of Congress to support the Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act which sought to provide funding for planting trees in forests that have been impacted by wildfires.
Hope Advocates for Sustainability
Hope College
2019-2021
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While at Hope College, I had the privilege of being the Co-President for Hope Advocates for Sustainability: an internship program focused on proposing and implementing sustainable initiatives on Hope College's campus. I worked with Hope College dining services to incorporate a Less-Meat Monday program in the dining halls, co-led a team of 10 interns in which we organized events such as beach clean-ups and reusable bag giveaways, and I presented a proposal to 145 faculty members advocating for a "sustainability requirement" in the general education curriculum. I was involved on the community level by publishing articles in local newspapers, speaking at city council meetings, and being an invited speaker for community panel discussions about plant-based diets and decreasing plastic consumption. Before leaving Hope College, three professors and I presented a Sustainability Statement to the Hope College President and Administrative Council that was officially adopted by the institution.
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Personal Changes
Beginning in college, I adopted various sustainability habits such as eating a plant-based diet, using reusable bags at the grocery store, and taking cold showers. For an entire year, I collected all of the plastic waste that I produced in a bin that I kept in my apartment room to observe first-hand how much plastic waste one person produces.