Student Spotlight: Annie Nelson '15

Publication Date

Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Major: Environmental Science
Minor: Environmental Engineering/Geology

Why Union:
I love the trimester system because it allows me to take fewer classes each of the three terms and fill my time with extracurriculars while also improving my time management skills. I also love the long winter breaks because I can get internships or travel during the winter as well as the summer.

Most inspiring class:
I am most inspired by my professors when they show how passionate they are about their subject. In my ecology class with Professor LoGiudice and environmental geology with Professor Manon, both have motivated me to fine-tune my academic passions by sharing what they love to do.

Also passionate about:

  • Ozone House resident: I live in a beautiful house full of socially, politically and environmentally active and aware students.
  • Earth Week organizer: I'm organizing the traditional Ozone House clothing swap to highlight the ill effects of consumerism and promote reuse and repurposing of post-consumer goods.
  • U-Sustain secretary: Reaching out to people who don't understand the severity of environmental issues is challenging but necessary, and I'm glad to be a part of a strong motivated group of students and faculty working together to make change.
  • Do it in the Dark Campaign chair: It was my responsibility to get everyone on campus reduce their carbon footprint.
  • Octopus's Garden vice president: We recently planted basil and peppers in pots in the campus greenhouse, and I will rally volunteers to make sure the plants get watered every day from now until May 10, our big planting event.
  • Ozone Café volunteer: I work here every week, serving food and then taking leftovers to the City Mission.

Other activities: I am excited about being president of the Rock Climbing Club, and I'm planning a mountain biking club. Central Park in Schenectady has some awesome trails. A friend and I are launching a sustainability newsletter to help students live more sustainably on campus.

Greatest Union moment:
Dance parties in the Women's Lacrosse locker room.

Looking into the future:
I would like to work for a traveling outdoors school, such as Outward Bound or NOLS (the non-profit National Outdoor Leadership School) for a few years, then eventually go to graduate school and study to become a water resource engineer or hydrologist. Water is our most precious resource, and I would like to work all over the world installing sustainable clean water systems.