Peeps '21 (they/them)

Where do you call home?

Ellsworth, Wisconsin

What are you majors/minors?

Environmental Studies

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Hammocking

Why did you major in Environmental Studies?

I changed my major to ES my sophomore spring. One of the primary reasons was I found home in people who happened to be ES majors, and I seemed to connect with them the most. I especially liked how they were always talking about eco-friendliness, environmental awareness, and justice- subjects that were foreign at the time but spoke to me in the same way.

What is your favorite Environmental Studies class and why?

Climate Action Workshop. Corrie Grosse teaches the class and she focuses on the climate organizing of being an ES major and how to be an effective climate activist. Also, Environmental Ethics with Charles Wright, you will have your mind blown in the best ways.

What environmental issue are you most passionate about? Why?

I am passionate about studying the issues of environmental racism, climate injustice, and environmental injustice of BIPOC communities, queer folx, disabled communities, etc. I am passionate for it because my entire life I have had a privilege of being unaware and not knowledgeable on these issues, so I know my life purpose, or moral obligation, is to build and create a better world and future than the one I grew up in.

What was the focus of you research for ENVR 320? What were your findings?

Indigenous knowledge and climate adaptation, I found that by giving land back to Indigenous and Native folx in the North America region is a solution to the climate crisis. Also, by utilizing and valuing TEK and Indigenous knowledge, rather than exploiting it, is another solution to repairing severed relationships, along with ecological and cultural restoration. 

What advice do you have for first students and majors?

Take as many ES classes as you can with every professor. I was late to the party, and I regret not having the chance to take everything I wanted to. But these professors, this department, and the arboretum are all so unique- take full advantage of all of it.