students – Page 3

senior spotlight: bella barocas ’24

Hi, Bella! Would you tell me a bit about yourself, and how you found your way to Wesleyan?
I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and I transferred to Wesleyan in my sophomore year, when I realized I didn’t want to be in a big city for college. I actually worked with Lisa Stein ‘21 at an overnight camp the summer after I graduated high school, so Wesleyan was on my radar when I decided to transfer.

How did you become interested in the environment?
In my family we spent a lot of time outside, taking hikes and doing other activities, so I was always somewhat interested in the environment. I also did a semester school program when I was in high school. The program is called The Outdoor Academy in Pisgah Forest, Western North Carolina. I particularly became interested in waste systems. We took a trip to a landfill for the program, and I had never seen where my trash was going, and it really stuck with me. Then I went back to high school and I became the president of the environmental club and started getting compost in the school cafeteria. And then I came here to Wesleyan and realized that the compost interns were the coolest people in the Sustainability Office—you can quote me saying that!

campos ’24 awarded watson fellowship

by sjager

The Thomas J. Watson fellowship is a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 colleges, including Wesleyan University. The Watson Fellowship allows fellows to engage with their deepest interest on a global scale. Fellows create and develop original projects and embark on the journey for a year. Fellows decide where to go, who to meet, and when to change course. The program aims to produce a year of personal insight, perspective, and confidence that shapes the arc of fellows’ lives. Each year Wesleyan may nominate four candidates. History and environmental studies major Dylan Campos ’24 is one of this year’s Watson fellowship awardees.

Hi, Dylan! Can you tell me a bit about yourself ––what you’re studying, where you’re from, and how you became interested in environmental studies?
Hi! My name is Dylan Campos, I use he/they pronouns, and I’m a senior studying history and environmental studies with a minor in global engagement. I’m from Branford, Connecticut, so not terribly far, maybe 40 minutes, and I’m actually a transfer student. I was originally at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. As a class of ’24 person––a high school class of 2020 person–– COVID did so many things matriculating into college, and so I ended up here my sophomore year. I always knew I was interested in the environment, I just didn’t know exactly how or what. In high school I was really into water and coastal work, living in a shoreline town, and actually it wasn’t until I was at Hampshire that my interests pivoted towards agriculture. And then here at Wesleyan it’s narrowed towards food and food politics, food security, and that’s where I am now.

senior spotlight: meera nemali ’24

by lfranklin

What are your majors?
I am an environmental studies and anthropology major.

Tell us about your capstone project!
I did my capstone paper last semester through an anthropology class called From Metropolis to Megalopolis (ANTH249). I wrote my capstone about how urban planning and city infrastructure can worsen environmental disasters and the ways in which we can sustainably plan our cities in the future. I don’t really know if there’s a way to prevent these disasters, but there are ways to prevent further damage in cities.

senior spotlight: sloane dzhitenov ’24

by lfranklin

Hi, Sloane! What are your majors and where are you from?
I’m a triple major, which is crazy. I’m a film and environmental studies major and also an economic major. And I’m from Massachusetts.

Outside of academics, what else are you involved in on campus?
Film takes up most of my free time. I try to make as many movies as I can. I also run Intercut, which is the film and TV magazine on campus. Those are honestly my main extracurriculars at the end of the day

senior spotlight: serena levingston ’24

by lfranklin

Hi, Serena! What are your majors here at Wes?
My majors are environmental studies and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies.

What sort of intersection have you found between those two majors?
I think there’s the ecofeminism aspect, looking at how the ways people treat earth seem to mirror the ways people treat women and marginalized people. I’ve taken a lot of classes that focus on the effects of colonialism and western imperial thought on the earth and people.

What are you doing for your senior project?
I wrote a capstone essay last semester in the FGSS Department that was focused on endocrine disruptors, which are a class of chemical compounds that includes things like BPA and parabens. I wrote about how such things are talked about in mainstream media narratives, what that shows about cultural fears, and how that can be applied to broader rhetoric around environmental effects. So, for example, there’s a lot of panic around the effects of endocrine disruptors on reproduction. So I looked at things like who is panicking and who does it actually affect? And I found that the people who are panicking are not necessarily the ones who are affected by it.

senior spotlight: danielle garten ’24

by acmorris

Hello! Would you share a bit about your background, and how you became interested in studying the environment?
Hi, I’m Danielle, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I’m studying psychology, education, and environmental studies. I first became interested in the environment when I took AP Environmental Science as a senior in high school. I found the class so interesting, especially learning about population density and how it relates to sustainability and environmental justice. I think that unit helped me understand that social science is connected to environmental science, and it made me want to do environmental studies at Wesleyan.

senior spotlight: marangela james ’24

by acmorris

Our 33 class of 2024 ENVS linked majors have primary majors in 15 different departments, from film to government to feminist, gender and sexuality to chemistry. This diversity reflects the deep and widespread interest in environmental issues on the Wesleyan campus and our incredibly fertile coexist community! Manangela James ’24 is a philosophy and environmental studies major who works at Olin Library and as a financial manager for the Green Fund. Learn more about Marangela, below!