I grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, but every year, I used to travel across the country to visit my grandparents in their village in Western Nepal. There, I enjoyed climbing fruit trees, crossing creeks, and looking after the livestock. I felt connected to the landscape, and I believe that is where my interest in the environment commenced. Over time, and with each passing Steve Irwin episode I watched, I became more interested in wildlife. At Yale-NUS, I helped with research on otters for a while, until I became fascinated with forestry. Since then, I have been involved in research on mangroves, regularly walking–or swimming–in the mangroves of Singapore to help with fieldwork. Despite Singapore’s heat, the forests almost always feel cool, and I appreciate the opportunity to truly be in the forest, disconnected from everything else outside.

My interest in food systems began first from a love for both coffee and chocolate-two foods well-known for their exploitative industries-and later, a belief that the ways people organise around food are foundational building blocks of societal and human well-being. Lately, this exploration into food and well-being has also sparked further interest in indigenous or non-Western ways of knowing, healthism, and local food cultures. For me, me time means walking/hiking (barring humidity!), reading fantasy novels, dabbling in various visual art forms, dancing to oldies, and striving towards a decolonial yoga practice.

Hello! I am Adolfo Castro and I was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. I grew up with a zoo director as my mum and a cattle rancher as my dad, so my entire childhood was surrounded by animals–be it wild or domestic. I went to boarding school in the UK and India, where I lived in a biodiversity reserve. Unexpectedly, I found myself in Singapore for university, Cambodia for an internship and, more recently, studied abroad in Tanzania.

Biodiversity conservation is what I am most interested in, but I am also strongly drawn to other environmental issues like global warming and waste management–at the end of the day it is all interconnected. One of the main reasons I came to Yale-NUS was because of its location in one of the most biodiverse regions of the world. I expect to have plenty of opportunities to learn about conservation and development.

Hello, I am Jia Min from the Class of 2020! I love plants and hope to work on studying and protecting the forests of Southeast Asia in future.

I fell in love with plants after a summer abroad program in Australia, when I realised how beautiful they are as I made unofficial herbarium collections and worked on plant identification. I especially love their diversity, their longevity (sometimes) and how they quietly, and almost without moving, give so much to the rest of the web of life! Though plants are not always human-like, plants teach and inspire me a lot in embracing diversity, being observant, staying still and not moving all the time, taking their own time, and being present for others. As an aspiring academic, I hope to humbly feed my curiosity about everything under the sun, while empowering youths to think critically and act consciously on matters of importance to them.

Hi there, my name is Jamie from the Class of 2019 Double Degree Programme with Law. I wear two hats as an Environmental Studies major and NUS Law student, and so I am naturally passionate about environmental law and policy. My passion for conservation stems from my experiences as a child living in Indonesia, where I hiked in lush rainforests and camped near active volcanoes. Amidst the burgeoning environmental crisis, I hope to protect Southeast Asia’s natural wonders from the damaging effects of climate change. I believe this can be achieved through robust environmental laws in local and international jurisdictions. I am curious about how we can evolve existing legal regimes to consider environmental justice as a core tenet of public and private law. As an eternal optimist, I believe that the law can facilitate equitable and sustainable development that is in harmony with nature.

Good day! I am Marissa from the Class of 2019. I am interested in the intersections among renewable energy, green finance and technology, and am passionate about sustainable development in general. Currently, I am studying investment risks in clean energy investments, and how environmental policymaking increases or abates these risks. On a related note, I enjoy following developments in behavioural economics and finance, especially how they may implicate investments in the environmental sector.

In my spare time, I dabble in electronics, which stems from my curiosity of how technology can be used to bridge information gaps, for example, how data collected from geo-sensing and monitoring technologies can be used to support vulnerable communities and inform decision-making in the public and private sectors. (However, I’m also cognisant of the pitfalls of technological advancements and how energy-intensive they can be–an issue that people do not discuss enough!) I also enjoy the great outdoors and find any opportunity to immerse myself in the highest and lowest parts of the world, which entails trekking in the mountains or scuba-diving and sailing in the oceans. Finally, I am trying to become proficient in the Spanish language, which necessitates (really) spending a lot of time watching Spanish films and TV shows on Netflix!

Hello! I am Xin Run, I sing and I run. I love music. I started off with piano, but over time, I became particularly interested in exploring and encouraging connection with nature through the experience of listening to the sounds of nature. Besides acoustic art, I am passionate about reducing waste by bringing my own utensils. My boyfriend and I are excited about our new Instagram account: Tingkattales! Follow us on Instagram to find out more about our stories of each time we attend events in school while we bring our own “tingkat” (Malay for tiffin carriers)!

Hello, Kimberly Hoong here (and don’t worry, I am not as crazy as I look in my picture)! I have always been interested in the natural environment and loved the outdoors since young. Give me anything outdoor and nature-related, and I would do it. Given my love for the outdoors, it only seemed natural for me to major in Environmental Studies when I came to Yale-NUS.

I strongly believe that economic and sustainable development can happen simultaneously, and that environmental policymaking is one of the most powerful methods and tools we can utilise for positive environmental change. I have no idea where I am going to end up 10, 20, 30 years from now, but I hope that I can help spur progressive environmental policies for either business corporations or wildlife conservation.

Fun fact: Bear Grylls is my childhood idol, and my childhood dream was to end up working as a TV presenter at National Geographic or Discovery Channel, and maybe produce a show of my own called ‘Woman VS Wild’.

I am Feroz from the Class of 2018. I majored in Environmental Studies because this programme provides the tools to approach what I view as the greatest challenge of our time. I never quite had the same connection with the natural world that many of my friends intuitively enjoy–I grew up despising grass, jungles, and mosquitos, and to some degree still do. But my initial fascination with the tools of the discipline–its multidisciplinarity, its emphasis on systems and scale, and its mercilessly critical lens–allowed me to overcome my initial trepidation and take the plunge. I have no regrets–Environmental Studies allowed me to connect my passion for Singapore and Southeast Asia with my interest in energy studies, social movements and climate change.

Hey there! I am Matt, an Environmental Studies alum who also minored in Physical Science. I was born and raised in a small college town in Oregon. I love travelling (I once took trains all the way from Singapore to London!), acting, and generally bumming around with my friends. My main area of interest is in how policymaking can create adaptable and resilient social institutions. I am also really interested in climate justice and the policy roles of non-state actors.

My name is Wan Ping, and I am a ‘food’ person—concentrating on food policy and security in Southeast Asia, an interest developed from growing up in Singapore, which depends heavily upon regional trade and relationships. Outside of classes, I am also the founder and a leader in I’dECO, the Yale-NUS Sustainability Movement, and the Sustainable Solutions Network, which aims to improve institutional practices and facilitate environmental collaboration within Singapore. My friends can often find me on rock climbing walls, a running track or writing poetry. I minored in Literature, and can speak Mandarin, German, and the local dialect Hokkien (although my grandma may disagree)!

Hello! My name is Kei (short for Anne Caroline) and I grew up in the mountains of New Mexico (USA), before moving to Swaziland, and then somehow finding myself in Singapore.

I am most interested in environmental humanities–exploring the sides of environmental challenges that involve questions of culture, values, identity, and power. I appreciate the opportunity that complex environmental problems provide: an opportunity for us to develop robust transdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving, which involve people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, agendas, and ideas coming together to engage in constructive dialogue. How cool!

I am specifically interested in how artists can play a role in environmental movements, as ‘artivists’, organisers, facilitators, influencers, or instigators of cultural and personal transformation.