My experiences at IBES as a Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow led me to pursue a career focused not only on science but also writing and communication. During our Voss Fellow meetings, Professor Stephen Porder helped us develop skills to more thoughtfully communicate our findings from our environmental research to other scientists and to the general public. Though these meetings took place years ago, I still employ the skills I gleaned from his lessons on oral presentations, slide design, and elevator pitches.

I learned the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving — that environmental issues frequently require a social, political, ethical, economic, and scientific analysis. That approach has served me well through a 40-year career in environmental advocacy.

The primary lesson I learned while at IBES is the importance of collaboration to broaden my perspective before landing on a solution. There are so many ways of knowing any one challenge. For example, climate change can be viewed in myriad ways — a scientific problem, a political problem, a social problem, a behavioral problem, etc. Due to this complexity, there's always a need for many perspectives to help define the problem and in turn define solutions.

I realized very early on in my undergraduate career that academic programs do not have to be bound by the walls of the university. By pursuing opportunities through course-work, internships, and eventually the Urban Environmental Laboratory (UEL), I learned that there are so many ways that one can reach out and have an impact on real-life problems in the immediate community, at state and national levels, and beyond.

I was flailing a bit at Brown, trying to figure out how to merge all my interests. When I discovered the Environmental Studies and Sciences concentration, the path became clear. By the time I had graduated, I knew I wanted to write about the environment; I went on to journalism school, and I have been in the science and environmental communications field for the past 40 years.

One of the key lessons I learned from my time at Brown is the importance of rooting yourself in the places you are — respecting local history, culture, organizations, and communities. Much of the research that students and faculty carried out at Brown were connected to the problems and needs that emerged around us in Providence. This work was dynamic, interdisciplinary, and in many cases, complex and politically messy. But rather than shy away from it, we were encouraged to engage with it and find ways to put our ideals and learnings into practice, even if it was imperfect.

I came to Brown looking for new ways of thinking. I wanted to turn my passion for environmental and climate justice into a career, but I didn't know what that looked like. Raising my hand first in lab one day landed me a spot supporting delegates from the Least Developed Countries in the United Nations climate negotiations. At IBES, I learned the value of defining my own role in the ever-changing environmental sector and to draw from the support of some truly amazing networks.

Brown taught me the importance of asking a question properly, so that I get the necessary and accurate information. I learned that crafting a good question requires precisely defining the issue and determining what I need to know, then choosing my words carefully. This seemingly simple skill has been instrumental throughout my career. I have used it as an advocate, strategist, grant-maker, and program manager to advance local, state, federal, and international environmental solutions.

When I became the executive director of a nonprofit and tried to find support on how to structure my organization and the kind of leader I wanted to be, it was the culture of the UEL that always came back to me. I learned how to be a leader within a group, and I also learned what it looks like to lead in a collaborative way. It was a thoughtful and challenging place, but also one filled with great joy, humor, and love. I carry that with me to this day, and I hope I’ve created spaces that make others feel that way, too.

IBES taught me how to recognize and understand the complex — but often hidden — systems that underlie how humans interact with the environment. While I spent a lot of time in the lab and classroom studying very specific topics or problems, the instructors and community at IBES constantly reminded me that nothing happens in isolation. We must take the time to look up and around to grasp the context that our specific interest exists in. Only then can we identify the most effective levers for change.