Fellowship Alumni

What work are you doing today and is it related to the environment?

For the last nine months, I volunteered as the Program Coordinator of a high school internship program in rural Western Washington through Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest/Americorps. Similar to the Appalachian region (which I had the opportunity to visit in 2015 and 2017 through SCU’s immersion program), Grays Harbor County faces high rates of unemployment largely due to the decline of the logging industry (in Appalachia—it’s the coal industry). My program, which focused on providing job-preparedness opportunities to high school students, was rooted in the understanding that "getting a job is not like it used to be.” While my job did not directly focus on environmental health or sustainability, it was an underlying factor for why I was there in the first place. On a local level, our fossil-fuel dependency has left certain regions incredibly vulnerable as the demand for certain extraction-based industries declines. For students in Grays Harbor County, a lot of the blue-collar jobs that employed their parents simply do not exist anymore. In short, the work I was doing shed light on how unsustainable practices affect not only the environment itself but also the workforce.

How has your experience as an EEF shaped your post-graduate life?

My experience as an Environmental Ethics Fellow sparked an interest and passion for better understanding the factors that shape our environmental perspectives and how those views translate into actions and behaviors. Using my background in environmental studies and psychology, I wanted to explore how early childhood experiences shaped the lives and work of environmental activists, heroes, and martyrs. I learned that a number of influential environmental figures attribute(d) their passion for environmental advocacy to childhood experiences (i.e. family hikes in the mountains, observing butterflies in their backyard, etc.). For me, this posed a question: If a child who is able to climb trees or draw pictures of the ocean is more likely to become an eco-conscious adult, how do we ensure that these types of opportunities are provided to all children? My post-graduate experience in Grays Harbor challenged this notion as I met and formed relationships with a number of people who did not express typical, pro-environmental mindsets—but not because they lacked exposure to the outdoors (as they are located minutes from the Olympic National Forest). The Environmental Ethics Fellowship provided an opportunity to articulate and explore these types of questions which continue to inspire my post-graduate work.

What does environmental ethics mean to you?

The more time that I've spent studying and discussing environmental ethics, the more challenging and even frustrating it becomes. It's hard to reconcile that clear-cutting forests might provide much-needed employment in a region where opportunities are scarce. While it's important to acknowledge how our actions—and the jobs we choose—leave an imprint on our environment, it's also necessary to acknowledge the contexts and communities themselves. My understanding of environmental ethics is rooted in  a desire and responsibility to challenge my own perspectives and notions of right and wrong prior to projecting them on someone or something else. In order to advocate for truly just and sustainable change, we have to actively question why the "right" choice to us might be wrong to someone else and acknowledge how both sides are equally valid.

Check out Lena's Environmental Ethics Project: Environmental Activists, Heroes, and Martyrs!

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez | Anna Jane Joyner | Larry Gibson | David Brower | Rachel Carson | Ansel Adams