Norah Alhusayni

Undergraduate Fellow, Forest Biodiversity Team

As an international student, Norah Alhusayni was unfamiliar with the Missouri landscape, which is exactly why she joined the Forest Biodiversity Team.  

“I was raised in an oasis, surrounded by a desert. This summer, I wanted to be in a natural landscape that was completely different from the one that I was raised in. It was very confusing at first, having to identify trees that I had barely seen prior to two years ago. I thought, ‘I don't know what this is. Everyone says it is this thing, but I've never seen this tree in my life.’ It took me a bit of time to get adjusted to that.  

After I did, I enjoyed being in the forest. I had romanticized it for a very long time and it was something that I really wanted to experience – being in this fantasy-esque landscape that I would read about in books. There are fewer stories about desert biomes.   

I grew up on a farm where there were a lot of trees (but different from those here). I grew up around date palms that are the national tree of Saudi Arabia. My hometown is known for being a big date exporter, so being around a greener landscape is normal to me. The Tyson forest is more sloped in comparison. My home environment is easy to traverse. This one has you struggling, but you get to see a lot of beauty while you're exploring it.” 

Although enjoying their time in the Missouri forest, Norah hopes to do research on their home ecosystem in the future. 

“The end goal is to get into desert or oasis ecology research. I want to dig into that niche. I have a very strong affinity to my hometown. A lot of people can go different places and not feel longing for the place they've come from. I always feel that longing, so I want to do my hometown justice and represent it.“