Tristan D.

I hope to work doing resilience research and sustainable development. Imminently I want to participate and contribute more to undergraduate research programs, such as CERENE (the Center for Resilient Neighborhoods) which I’ve worked with before by helping promote neighborhood resilience, and by doing specific projects on famine foods and fire resilient landscapes. I’m interested in helping to develop resilience strategies as I participate in extracurricular programs while attending school, and I hope to establish myself in this growing field as a career when I graduate

Food systems are pretty important to me, so I intend to volunteer at the campus community garden, learning about Australia’s local agriculture and historical crops, and sharing about Hawaii’s crops and my experiences working at ecovillages on the Big Island. I also hope to learn about Australian ecosystems and go on field trips as part of some of the classes I’m looking forward to taking, such as Learning in Outdoor Education and Volcanoes, Resources and Sustainability. Lastly, I hope my study abroad experience, focusing on sustainable agriculture and policy, will provide the help provide the global perspective necessary to execute my idea for a follow-on service project; the creation of an accessible guide on how to utilize local indigenous crops. This will be particularly important as a requirement for if I receive a Gilman scholarship, but I intend to try doing it anyway as part of working with CERENE (the Center for Resilient Neighborhoods)