Student Spotlight: Allison Jean Burwell on the impacts of climate change on woodlands
Stanford students are getting a head start on careers with education and leadership programs offered by the Woods Institute for the Environment. We talk with Allison Jean Burwell, a junior who brought her studies to life outside the classroom through the Mentoring Undergraduates in Interdisciplinary Research (MUIR) program.
Burwell conducted interviews and focus groups with members of the Bishop Paiute and Washoe Tribes in California’s Eastern Sierra to understand cultural values, land use, and the impacts of climate change on pinyon-juniper woodlands.
What part of your MUIR fellowship was most meaningful or eye-opening?
What struck me a lot in most of the interviews was how a lot of people spoke about taking care of each other, and being good people, and wanting to protect the land. It was a really refreshing perspective to hear. It didn’t feel like I was working. It was just me talking to people, learning from them, and I genuinely enjoyed that.
How has this opportunity influenced your academic or career aspirations?
This project reinforced my desire to do on the ground, community-based work. I want to make people’s lives better.
What advice would you give other Stanford students considering research, internships, or fieldwork in environmental or sustainability topics?
Don’t be afraid to not know all the answers. Embrace the uncertainty, try something new, and ask questions along the way. Moments I was unsure were often the most rewarding in my summer experience.
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Roll Call | Michael Wara discusses how administration officials should also use the opportunity to reevaluate basic assumptions about managing fire-prone federal lands in the West and adapt to living with fires as opposed to just fighting fires as they come.
