Student spotlight: Izabella Smolnicka-Dos Santos on connecting sustainability research to practice
Stanford students are getting a head start on careers with education and leadership programs offered by the Woods Institute for the Environment. Izabella Smolnicka-Dos Santos integrated academic insight with real-world applications as a Forum for Undergraduate Environmental Leadership (FUEL) fellow focused on sustainability of agriculture and dairy in California.
Smolnicka-Dos Santos stepped outside the classroom to explore sustainability and agriculture firsthand, traveling to Sacramento to meet with government agency staff, and to the Salinas Valley to meet with researchers, agricultural organizations, and farmworkers in the field. Through these experiences, she gained perspective on how policy, practice, and on-the-ground realities intersect in framing the critical challenges of sustainability in California’s agricultural systems.
What part of your FUEL fellowship most meaningful or eye-opening?
The most meaningful part of my FUEL fellowship was getting the experience of engaging with a wide variety of actors – political, organizational, research-based and otherwise. It was insightful to see how all were working to advance agricultural issues towards sustainability throughout complex systems. On another level, it was eye-opening for me to be exposed to farm worker issues and water policy through face-to-face interaction, sometimes right in the spur of the moment. For instance, on one occasion we had to opportunity to speak with a farm worker in the field as she was tending crops.
How has this opportunity influenced your academic or career aspirations?
Personally, my participation in FUEL came during an academically exploratory period of my undergraduate career. Participating in the program helped me reconnect with my passions within the field of environmental studies and gain a much clearer understanding of the real-world applications and career opportunities. It opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many issues and challenges, and there are so many directions from which you can try to find a solution. That’s what I really liked about the program.
What advice would you give other Stanford students considering research, internships, or fieldwork in environmental or sustainability topics?
I’d say absolutely pursue those opportunities. The field of environmental sustainability is incredibly diverse and ever growing, and we need as many people dedicating themselves to all aspects of it, from research and discovery to implementation and scaling of solutions, in order to help spur change across local communities and across our planet.
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