Pronouns: she/her
Year: 2027
Major: Philosophy | Minor: Environmental Studies
What is your project about? My project focuses on informing our local community about the Native plants of the area and the benefits and traditional uses of these plants. Through the distribution of Native Plant Learning Seed kits to local universities and elementary schools, community members get first-hand access to Native plants, while also getting to understand the benefits of these plants, the importance of protecting Native plants, and Native plants relationship with the Bay Area ecosystem. Overall, my project focuses on educating the public about the important role of Native plants in sustainability and environmental stewardship, and giving local communities the opportunity to plant Native seeds and have access to them when in season.
How will this fellowship support you in your future scholarship/career goals? The SVP Sustainable Futures Fellowship will support me in my future career goal of becoming an Environmental and American Indian law attorney. The fellowship will expose me to high-impact learning experiences on local sustainability issues and give me first-hand encounters on how to foster sustainable solutions for these issues, which directly align with my career development goals of environmental stewardship. The fellowship also gives me the opportunity to highlight the importance of the intersectionality of Native ecological knowledge and local sustainability efforts, as the two are not opposed to each other but instead in tandem, which is a value I hope to incorporate while working in Environmental law.
What extra/co-curricular activities are you involved in on campus? This upcoming school year, I will be the club president of the Native American Coalition for Change (NACC). I’ve also held an internship with the SCU community heritage lab for the past three years, working alongside Professor Amy Lueck on projects such as the annual Ohlone SCU Cultural Campout, Ohlone history exhibits in the De Saisset Museum, and the recent Native plant garden at the Forge garden. I’m also a member of the Human-Computer Interactions lab, where I work on the Thamien Ohlone Augmented Reality tour.
Other passions, hobbies, fun facts, or anything else you want to share: I love collecting abalone shells, either from nature hikes or from Native vendors in jewelry form, and I love to read and sew in my free time!