I grew up in Chicago and was always a nature-loving kid! From the moment I could walk, I was exploring the natural world around me. I was fortunate enough to have frequently travelled as a kid and have adventurous parents who pushed me to appreciate the natural world. When we would go on a trip somewhere, we were never the family to stay at resorts or cities, we were always off the beaten path on some tiny island where only golf carts were allowed or in the middle of the woods.

In school, I always had an affinity for the environmental sciences and also enjoyed writing, history and politics. I began my undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia on route to major in biology hoping to pursue medical school. However, after some self reflection, I reassessed and realized that my true calling was environmental science, but changed my mind about once every month as to what within environmental sciences I wanted to focus on.

The story of me changing my mind every single month continued for three years until I hit my final year in university. At this point, every time someone asked me “what do you want to pursue post-university” gave me a mini panic attack, but then came along a rather obvious career path: environmental policy. Why is this obvious? For starters I considered law for quite a while and love politics (I was a founding member of my high school’s political science club) and, while policy is indeed not politics, this interest led me to take on the odd pass-time of reading about environmental law, policy, and legislation. After some actual coursework in political science and policy, I took a particular liking of global affairs, which leads me to my answer to the previously anxiety-ridden question: I want to pursue global environmental policy.

Throughout my journey, I have sampled a few different types of jobs within the environmental sciences. I have previously worked in conservation for UBC’s Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism (APF-ECM) as a sustainable forest education program assistant and for the non-profit specializing in big cat conservation: Felidae Conservation Fund in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am currently working for a sustainability and transformative change website startup called CoSphere with UBC’s Dr. Kai Chan under CHANS lab. I am one of the primary blog writers focusing on posts about the interventions, or levers (my contribution is levers 2 and 3), and areas of intervention, or leverage points (my contributions are leverage points 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) as well as other sustainability blogs relating to transformative change and environmental policies and law (EcoJustice BC Report Card). I have also volunteered with environmental organizations such as Pacific Spirit Park Society on water quality assessments and forest restoration monitoring.

Cut to the present: I am graduating in a few months and am fully ready to take on the world. This portfolio is intended to be a showcase of some of my best work over my time at university and shows the tail-end of my transition into environmental policy as part of a project for my ocean conservation course BIOL 420!

I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave any comments or questions

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