NURTURED BY NATURE
I spent much of my childhood making my mother nervous. Every weekend, she’d drive me to our local nature center, where I’d climb trees and rocks, wade in the creek, and dream of adventure. In the evenings, we’d watch David Attenborough nature documentaries together.
When I grew up, I stayed local for college, studying biology and environmental science at Saint Mary’s College of Maryland. We performed lab work in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, strapping on waders and splashing through swampy waters to collect samples for analysis. My summers were spent close to wildlife, working with lemurs at the Smithsonian National Zoo and with otters at the Calvert Marine Museum.
HANDS-ON CONSERVATION
For my senior project, I strayed far from home to study primate populations in The Gambia. It wasn’t the fantasy I’d pictured: Research mostly involved hacking through underbrush with a machete, picking off leeches, and being eaten alive by mosquitoes, all while searching for troops of colobus and vervet monkeys. But in the quiet moments, sitting for hours surrounded by monkeys, it hit me: Merely documenting their decline felt like a luxury—I needed to do something to help make sure these animals have a future.
In that moment, I pivoted from a field research career to one that combined science and action. With a spotty internet connection, I applied to a master’s program in sustainable development and conservation biology.
