profiles – Page 2

pinkus ’21 supports volunteerism at us forest service

Andrei Pinkus ‘21 is a communications and data support resource assistant at the US Forest Service. During his time at Wesleyan, Andrei was a recipient of a 2020 COE Summer Research Fellowship. He graduated with a BA in government and environmental studies.

Why did you choose to be an environmental studies (ENVS) linked major here at Wes?
I’ve always had a passion for environmental issues. Even as a kid I was aware of the negative ways humans influence the environment; I made a habit of turning off lights, taking shorter showers, and never wasting food. So, in that way, I suppose I’ve always been environmentally conscious. Only at Wesleyan, through my ENVS classes, did I realize just how intersectional (and important) the field was. The environment is everything, and without it we have nothing. Although it sometimes feels like an impossible quest, I want to dedicate my career to doing whatever is possible to make the world at least just a little better than when I came into it. That’s why I chose to be an ENVS major.

meet our 2022 envs linked majors!

by Laurie Kenney

Environmental Studies (ENVS) is a linked major, meaning all ENVS majors have a primary major in another department (so linked equals more, not less). Our ENVS class of 2022 includes 27 students across 14 different primary majors, from chemistry to film studies, from economics to English, from psychology to government. Learn more, below!

lopez-anido ‘21 investigates biology of marine invertebrates

by Laurie Kenney

Rebecca Lopez-Anido ‘21 is a laboratory research assistant at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. During her time at Wesleyan, Rebecca was a research assistant in the Chernoff Lab and a recipient of a 2020 COE Summer Research Fellowship. She graduated with a BA in biology and environmental studies.

eco designer lindsay ’05 finds her happy place

by stousi

Rachel Lindsay ‘05 is an ecological designer, artist, and local food advocate. She is a worker-owner at Regenerative Design Group, a small firm based in Western Massachusetts. Rachel holds an MS in ecological design from The Conway School and a BA in anthropology from Wesleyan. As a Wes student, she was one of the founders of Long Lane Farm!

o’donnell ’19 takes action at climate museum

by stousi

Maggie O’Donnell ’19 is the research and program associate at The Climate Museum in New York City, where she coordinates new aspects of the Museum’s online presence including the Online High School Internship Program and the Climate Ambassador Card. Maggie was a religion and environmental studies major and art history minor at Wesleyan and a member of our 2018-19 COE Think Tank.

edwards ’21 contributes to higher ed toolkit for displaced students

by eedwards

Lizzie Edwards ’21 (she/her) double majored in Anthropology and Environmental Studies and minored in Middle Eastern Studies. While at Wesleyan, her senior capstone project, Politics of Thirst: Privatized Water, the Shadow State, and Citizenship Claims in Jordan, examined how water has become a key medium in which state responsibility is being privatized as well as the water access of refugees, low-income Jordanians, and elite residents. Here she shares her experience volunteering with the Student Voices for Refugees program of the University Alliance for Refugees & At-Risk Migrants (UARRM).

celebrating our 2021 envs majors!

by Laurie Kenney

Congratulations to the class of 2021! Read on for more about some of our 31 class of 2021 ENVS majors!

Sanya Bery: My thesis title is A Walk in the Neighborhood: Exploring the Crucial Role That Small Municipalities Play in the Face of Climate Change. Super excited to announce that I will be joining the University of Michigan-School for Environment and Sustainability’s master’s program, with a concentration in Sustainability and Development in Fall 2022. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me reach this point in my life. I’m thrilled for the adventures that this coming gap year holds and for all to come in the future!

Liana Biasucci: My capstone is an essay called How to Build Back Better: Greening the Recovery from COVID-19, about using government stimulus packages to advance climate mitigation in the US and combining economic goals with environmental ones. Next year I’ll be working in DC doing sustainability consulting. What I’ve learned most from ENVS is how multifaceted environmental problems are and that to have true solutions we need to look at all impacts of policies and actions.

Lizzie Edwards: My senior essay title is Politics of Thirst: Privatized Water, the Shadow State, and Citizenship Claims in Jordan. My essay examines the different water realities of residents of different socio-economic classes within Jordan. I argue that water has become a key medium in which state responsibility is being privatized and relationships to the state are being negotiated. I will be a member of the CBYX for Young Professionals cohort for 2021-2022 academic year! This fellowship is a fully-funded public diplomacy program through the U.S. government and German government that is offered to 75 Americans every year. I will be studying German intensively for two months, taking college classes in Arabic and migration studies (most likely in German) for a semester, and interning in the field of refugee resettlement for five months. I hope to learn firsthand how organizations in Germany are welcoming refugees and immigrants as well as combatting anti-refugee and immigrant sentiment. From being an ENVS linked major, I’ve learned how to more adeptly discuss environmental issues in an interdisciplinary space. My advice for future ENVS classes is to take classes outside of their comfort zones.

Phoebe Landsman: In my project, Combatting Politicization and Polarization: Re-Framing Climate Change to the American Public, I researched ways to re-frame climate change to appeal to the American public and combat the stagnancy surrounding climate policy in the United States. After graduation, I will be working for an immigration law firm in Boston! I love that everyone comes into the ENVS major with different interests and approaches to environmental studies. I have truly learned so much from my classmates and teachers.