Grad. School Essay: Draft six

“Look but don’t touch.” Our guide repeated that phrase at least ten times in a two hour period. I was beginning to feel a little indignant about his speaking to us as children we arrived at our destination, a preserve for the giant tortoise. It was the greenest place we had seen in the four days since we boarded the houseboat that would sail us around the Galapagos Islands for the next eight days. The Galapagos is not known for its lush vegetation, but the preserve is thick with it. We found the first tortoise napping behind a curtain of trees. The dome of his carapace was almost as tall as I was, and he wasn’t even standing. The guide explained that the hard “shell” was in fact a hotbed of nerves that could feel everything from raindrops to the leaves he brushed past as he made his way through the vegetation. This information struck me as odd, because I had seen so many pictures of people riding the giant tortoises. Those animals did not appear to be in pain, a certainty if the carapace is as sensitive as the guide claimed. After some discussion and picture taking, it was time to move on. I let the others go ahead of me and walked around to the tail end of the tortoise. After a quick peek over my shoulder, I placed my hand on one of the hexagonal plates of the carapace. It was warmer than I expected and large enough to dwarf my hand, even when I spread my fingers against it. Seconds later, a low groan emanated from the other end of the tortoise. His long neck craned around the carapace toward me. His large, fluid eyes stared at me with an expression that was both drowsy and visibly annoyed. I blushed, mumbled an apology, and scampered after my group.

As human beings it is very common to underestimate the consequences of our actions. It is simply too easy to rationalize that a single person could not possibly have a noticeable impact on our world and the other creatures that inhabit it. What makes the scenario I just described all the more embarrassing is that I should have known better. I had just completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology at James Madison University with a minor in Environmental Studies and concentrations (primarily in ecology and microbiology) that I had hoped would lead me into a career in environmental preservation. I had been taught in numerous field classes how to move and collect samples with minimal disturbance. My background did not, as noted in my encounter with the giant tortoise, make me immune to the pattern of rationalization exhibited by many cultures and individuals. I am grateful to have that self-awareness and believe it will be critical to my success in the Environment Studies program as well as my future career in the field.

In addition to that awareness, there are also two classes from my undergraduate career that I found particularly important in shaping my ideals and focus:

The first is my Population Geography class. This class was one of the humanities requirements for my minor and I found it to be the most useful in helping me understand and relate to the social problems I should expect to face in this field. It is easy to say that the world is overpopulated without considering how the status of women and other long established cultural mores of developing countries might contribute to this. It also easy to say the seas are over-fished without considering the desperate poverty that often fuels the fishing trade. Closer to home, it is easy to complain about the increase development of rural areas of Central Virginia without considering how much of the local economy has become dependent on the development process. This class taught me the true complexity of the issues in terms other than numbers and grids.

The second class that inspired me was my Soils and Land Use class. I came into this class thinking of soils as just so much dirt and came out considering each type a living thing with unique personality. I learned many of the soil types in Central Virginia by sight, composition, and compaction through laboratory testing and field trips. Understanding these differences also awakened me to the concerns about the United States’ diminishing farmland, a problem that mainstream media has largely ignored. Based on my personal and classroom experiences, I hope to begin a career in natural resource management, with either soil or water as my focus.

In addition to my classroom experience, I believe I have unique body of work experience that will serve me well in this program. Circumstances following graduation steered me back to my family, who had just moved to Gordonsville, Virginia. My qualifications as primarily a microbial ecologist did not quite match the available, more technologically based environmental jobs in that immediate area. My sickly car made commuting impossible, as well. With the specter of student loan payments looming, I took a laboratory technician position at the University of Virginia studying the effect of estrogen on various health concerns, from osteoporosis to breast cancer. I found that I truly enjoyed the research process and appreciated the opportunity to utilize and expand my education in biology, if not specifically conservation biology. I felt myself making the transition from student to scientist. In addition to a wealth of specific bench techniques, I learned how to design a project, optimize experiments, and aid in writing journal articles (I am listed as an author on four articles).

The serendipitous revelation was overshadowed, however, by the tumultuous funding climate of recent years. I changed labs four times over the last eight years, as a result of the seemingly endless budget cuts. While I felt confident that my extensive skill sets and fine references would allow the lab hopping to continue indefinitely, I found myself moving steadily away from my original plan. I was happy to pour over a brain atlases and histology textbooks alike to adapt to each new environment, but never felt the fields in which I was working--behavioral, cancer/molecular, cardiology-- fit my passions or talents enough to do the graduate work necessary to advance. All along I said I wanted to continue my education in Environmental Science. Now, with greater certainty and maturity, I am ready to proceed.

My hope for enrolling in the Environmental Studies Program is to increase my knowledge about natural resource management. I am particularly interested in Environmental Technology. I have a basic knowledge of GIS from my previous education, but hope to become proficient in using this program before enrolling at VCU by taking classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College. If time allows, I should also have my Computer Aided Drafting and Design certification. While at VCU, I would also like to more about remote sensing and ecological modeling, preferably in the context of a research assistantship. Additional knowledge of environmental law and policy would be an additional objective so that I may understand how the technical findings might be translated into changes on the political level. As much as I believe in the power of the individual to cause change, good or bad, I also believe that it is only through a collective, organized effort that will make those changes visible in the long run.