PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Growing up on a small farm in Minnesota, I was always drawn to questions about how plants grow, how ecosystems function, and how land could be managed and used more sustainably. I knew that to find answers to those questions, I needed a strong scientific foundation on which I could nurture a growing interest in law and policy. At NU, I majored in Environmental Science and minored in Environmental Policy & Culture to ensure that my toolbox of research skills would allow me to translate work between the worlds of science, law and policy. Those skills served me well as I went on to do my Master's in Geography at McGill University on agricultural livelihoods adaptation to a river capture event along the Amazon River in Peru. During my undergrad and Master’s research, I became increasingly aware of the undeniable influence of international supply chains on land use, farmers’ livelihoods, and environmental sustainability across the globe. After finish my time at McGill, I enrolled at Vermont Law School to get my JD and a Master’s in Food & Agriculture Law & Policy to gather the legal and policy tools needed to understand and shape global supply chains to address issues of environmental sustainability, human rights, and agrarian livelihoods. I’ll be graduating from these programs in May 2021.