Even before matriculating at Brown, Nora Ong ’23 — a Rhode Island native and competitive sailor — held a deep appreciation for the ocean. Taking AP Environmental Science in high school inspired Ong to explore environmental topics as an undergraduate, and it wasn’t long before she declared her Environmental Studies concentration on the Environment and Inequality track.
Double concentrating enhanced Ong’s acumen
She chose Environment and Inequality — one of five tracks available to undergraduates in the ENVS concentration — because “I like the more humanitarian side of the topic,” she said. After taking “Introduction to Public Policy,” a course offered by the University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Ong added Public Policy as a second concentration. Through that lens, she came to recognize policy as a key tool for making meaningful environmental change.
Today, Ong is the Regional Program Coordinator for the Marine team at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Created by Congress in 1984, the NFWF has grown to become the nation’s largest conservation grant-maker to protect and restore the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.
Ong credits Dawn King, a senior lecturer at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES), with jumpstarting her passion for environmental studies at Brown. “Professor King’s introductory class, ENVS 0110: ‘Humans, Nature and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century,’ was a great way to get an all-encompassing view of the topic,” said Ong. “It got me excited to pursue the concentration.” Later, Ong served as a teaching assistant for that same course and an undergraduate peer advisor for IBES.
Internships helped Ong hone her academic skills
IBES summer internships furthered her expertise and skills to ready her for a career in environmental studies. During summer 2021, Ong held an IBES internship with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). There, Ong helped to draft RIDEM’s first Environmental Justice Plan and worked with the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council after the Act on Climate was enacted.
Then, in summer 2022, Ong worked in Washington, D.C., for U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Of that experience, she said, “It was really cool to learn about environmental issues through a federal lens, especially since it’s a topic Senator Whitehouse is particularly focused on.”
During the second half of that summer, she earned another IBES-sponsored internship with the Center of Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami Law School, where she worked remotely on a lawsuit regarding gentrification and housing policies that forced minority residents in Miami from their communities.
Coursework and internships didn’t interfere with Ong’s unwavering love for the ocean. Beyond IBES, she earned team MVP and All-American honors as the captain of Brown’s varsity sailing team.
Ong values mission-driven conservation efforts
Alongside NFWF’s Fisheries Innovation Fund, Ong now works with grantees to give back to the Narragansett Bay community and its local marine populations. She is also collaborating with the coral reef team to address Florida’s coral bleaching crisis. “The organization and individual teams I’m working with are all very mission-driven,” said Ong, who finds “helping to conserve the environment, fight climate change, and protect endangered species … really rewarding.”