I always knew what path I would end up on, more or less. My parents joke that I could swim before I could walk, that I would throw temper tantrums when they made me come in from the rain where I was ardently observing the ant colony in my grandmother’s pool deck, or wake up at 6am to feed the laughing gulls that circled the boat. Admittedly, my brother was not a fan of my early morning “bird calls”, but it was evident that being outdoors, being with animals, and learning to understand them, was what I wanted to do.
I never remember asking myself what I want to do when I grow up. Every child who loves animals wants to be a veterinarian. And so, at six years old, I sat down in front of Animal Planet and took notes of the vet shows. When I later decided that wasn’t exciting enough, I was going to be a scientist.
In 2017 we saw Hurricanes Irma and Maria – two category five hurricanes in the span of two weeks – barrel through our home. The Virgin Islands ecosystems, our lives, took a huge hit. This was my wake-up call that something was fundamentally wrong, and our environment was rapidly changing
I made a commitment. I was going to dedicate my life to saving my home, what I loved. I had no direction, truly. My motto was, and still is, “wherever I am most needed, wherever I can do the most good”.
I always thought that the only way to actualize my mantra was through research. I came to George Mason University as a Biology major without ever having taken a substantial biology course. I tried research. It was fascinating. I loved learning about how our world works, the stories behind every living and non-living thing, but I did not find it as fulfilling as I’d expected.
I got wrapped up in the world of conservation science. I soon realized that as large as that world seemed, there are a lot of people outside of it. People who don’t understand how the natural world operates. And scientists, traditionally, don’t make science all that easy for non-scientists to understand.
More and more I would hear professors talk about communication. That, in the words of Ryan Valdez, “the largest threat to conservation is people not understanding what’s going on”.
And it’s true. In our classes we spend so much time in our little bubble. It became increasingly clear that the lessons drilled into us to the point you could recite them in your sleep, were absent from most people’s lives. The majority of people never take an environmental science class and maybe took biology in high school. How could they know?
I felt like for the first time I could understand why people do not act. Often, it’s because they do not understand how to help, or have been misled, but generally not because they do not care. That is not a reason to point fingers, but an opportunity for change.
That is why I am here.
This semester I will be at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation housed within the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. While here, I will study conservation science, policy and its intersection with society and culture. Studying here is one of the most unique experiences within the field available to undergraduates. I am so grateful to be able to study under and learn from the top researchers, professors, and leaders in conservation.
During my time here, I hope to develop a deeper understanding of our natural world and how that informs the way we protect it. I look forward to experiencing everything this paragon of knowledge has to offer and meeting some amazing people along the way. The networking opportunities will be invaluable. My hope is that my time here will solidify, or potentially even re-direct, my path to graduate school for science communication.
Most of all, I look forward to the opportunities to challenge my beliefs and learn more about the issues I’m passionate about. So much of conservation is learning the artful mastery of compromise, difficult choices, and adapting to new situations. It is the definition of interdisciplinary: social science, environmental science, politics, economics. Everything and everyone are tied together, and everyone must play a role in successful solutions.
The planet is our ship, and we are all in the same boat. Through the skills I will gain at Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, I would like to provide everyone a paddle, so that they may be a part of the solution. By gaining the skills and experience necessary to educate others, I want to give others the tools they need to contribute to our shared mission – to save our ship.