How are you inspired by science?

The easy answer is that science is just really cool. The more you learn about science the more you learn how the world works. Along with physics, I'm learning that how the world works is this really magical thing, because you're unpacking the different layers of existence and reality, basically. I think that's one of the reasons I'm drawn to biology as well as why I study physics. With physics I think, “Aha, I understand how a rocket works!” In the same way, the more I learn about biological sciences and ecology, just going on a walk through the neighborhood, it feels like your eyes suddenly are trained to interpret more... of everything around you, like being able to understand the real difference between trees and grasses and how they serve different niches.

One of the things that I'm really interested in beyond just nature and ecology is environmental justice and environmental racism. They inspire me, but also depress me because the more you learn about how screwed up the world is the more I'm like, “Wow, I really need to work harder to be more engaged with this, to help fix it.” Which means it’s easy to get burned out at times, for sure. But, I have the capability to understand the science and to be able to read reports and do tests. So, in the future, hopefully instead of just reading about how screwed up the world is, I can help the people who have been screwed over by those things.

Is there any question that you would like to answer that I haven't asked yet?

When you talk about climate change, you can't just touch the surface level and say that climate change is bad. Yes, climate change is bad. We have a role that we can play in stopping it, like becoming politically engaged in any conflict, from No Dakota Access Pipeline (NoDAPL) to Stop Line 3, to petitioning your senators so that they'll support the Green New Deal. All of these are band-aids to various systemic issues like global climate change. But if you're not going to become politically engaged, if you're not engaged on the political side of whatever issue you're on, in my opinion, your science is kind of worthless. If you're trying to change the world, but you're not actually trying to change the world, what are you doing? If you actually want to see a change, you can't just sit back on the sidelines and hope other people will do it for you. These issues are systemic. You have to break out of this individualistic mindset because you're only going to hold yourself back.