Meet Environmental Studies Students

I am a senior Environmental Studies major with a minor in Natural Science.  I have an intense respect for nature and the environment coupled with a perhaps greater appreciation for personal wellness and health.  I think that the two are intrinsically linked as particularly energy and water play essential parts in any person’s life.

I spent last summer researching in a Liver Transplant laboratory at Mayo Clinic.  Utilizing Immunohistochemistry, one of my tasks was to stain and image specific cells within tissue samples. I plan on using my skills learned in the lab for future research in medicine and other disciplines. 

Also last summer I spent three weeks studying the collapse of the Mayan civilization by taking ENST 485 in the central American country of Belize. Truly a life-defining experience. The paleoclimatological tools that current researchers use to reconstruct past temperature, rainfall, soil erosion and biological characteristics like diet I found particularly fascinating.

This fall I am researching organic-polymer based solar cells with the USC Department of Chemistry.  Organic solar cells represent an opportunity to manufacture flexible, low cost photovoltaic devices that can be easily integrated into current infrastructure. 

Growing up in Lahaina, Maui, my world pre-Los Angeles consisted of the West Maui Mountains, Launiupoko Valley, maybe a few thousand people and, of course, the ocean.  Imagine my dismay when millions of people and miles of cement met me in LA! Overwhelmed, I stumbled into Dr. Jim Haw’s office my sophomore year and made possibly the best decision of my life.

With an “Ocean, Life and People” concentration, I have been part of the inaugural group of students to participate in a special block semester on Catalina Island.  I also was in the first group to complete the AAUS scientific diver training and travel to Guam and Palau to study biodiversity and the impact of the Navy expansion in Guam.  My research has been in Marine Protected Areas and the public’s interaction with them.  To date I have completed two individual research projects on the topic and presented my findings at two symposia,  one the UC Berkeley National McNair Symposium.

This fall I will be applying to Ph.D. programs in Coastal Resource Management at some of the top graduate schools in the nation.

As a sophomore with a concentration in “Sustainability, Energy, and Society," the USC Environmental Studies program has proven to be much more than a science-based curriculum.  I can explore the roots of environmental problems from a much broader perspective, including economic and policy-based approaches.