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 I look forward to diving deeper during my time in graduate school.
Graduate Student Chapter of the Student Sustainability Center
Colorado State University
2021 - Present
During my first semester of graduate school, I organized the Graduate Student Chapter of the Student Sustainability Center. This student group seeks 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, hosted another summit in the spring of 2023.
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 ask their questions about sustainable career paths.
If you are interested in learning more, please visit our website or reach out to sscgradchapter@colostate.edu.
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 the 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!
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 sustainability. Before leaving Hope College, three professors and I presented a Sustainability Statement to the Hope College President and Administrative Council that we sought to be officially adopted by the institution.
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.