Mahal Bugay

Graduate Student

“Most people think nature is kind of closed-off or that we control nature. But for me, the biggest part of ecology is that we're all interacting with one another, from large scales to small scales. Understanding ecology and nature in that context made it fascinating for me.

I didn't really get into ecology until the summer of 2016 when I had my first undergraduate experience. The mentor I had was transformational in getting me into ecological research. We were both women of color, wanting to understand nature and the outside world.

I had a conservation discussion in a class a year or two ago; unless an animal or species is serving a purpose, why do we have to care for it? It goes back to what I talked about before, with everything being connected. Why does something have to have extrinsic value to you, for you to care about it? Why is there no intrinsic value?

I think doing science for science research depends on the context. I think with nature and conservation work, I'm pretty much for it. Why do we have to assign a monetary value? I understand that's how scientists get grants and proposals funded, but it's a bit sad for people to not understand that less monetary value does not make it less important within the larger scheme of things.”

Mahal is a member of Rachel Penczykowski’s Plant Disease team and a PhD candidate in the Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology graduate program at Washington University.