Lydia DuBois: April's Sustainability Champion
This month’s Sustainability Champion is Lydia DuBois, ’19. Lydia is part of the Rock Climbing Club and Earth Lodge, and is studying English and Leadership Studies. Read the full interview below to learn about her experience with sustainability on campus and how her time at University of Richmond has taught her about the connection between environmental and social justice.
|
|
What are you majoring in and what made you choose that area of study?
I am double majoring in English and Leadership Studies. Interestingly enough, I came into the University dead set on majoring in Accounting, but I loved my classes in these two departments so much more that I made the switch. I have always been book-obsessed with a deep desire to constantly learn and engage with new knowledge. Both my majors have enabled me to think with an interdisciplinary mindset, which means that I have a broad, interconnected understanding of complex issues and ideas, especially in relation to social justice.
How did you get involved with Earth Lodge and how has it impacted you?
A couple of my rock climbing friends were involved in the program last year, and after hearing about it, I knew I wanted to sign up. More than that, I wanted to help grow the community through my position as an RA. Earth Lodge has fed my resolve to become more earth-conscious and has enabled me to have more informed conversations about sustainability. I also just love being outdoors, so our trips have been a lot of fun!
Outside of Earth Lodge, how else have you been involved in sustainability on campus?
I’ve consistently been an advocate for sustainability in my day-to-day interactions with people and I like to challenge myself, as well as others, to implement more sustainable habits. I am also very involved in UR’s Climbing Club and the SEEDS Project, both of which emphasize outdoor involvement and engagement with environmental concerns in a variety of ways.
What courses have most impacted your understanding of sustainability or the environment during your time at University of Richmond?
During my sophomore year, I read a novel in one of my English classes called My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki that exposes a lot of disturbing truths about the meat industry. I had recently transitioned to vegetarianism at the time. Reading Ozeki’s novel really solidified that lifestyle choice for me.
A semester later in my English Globalization class, I read another novel called Tropic of Orange by Tei Yamashita that provided even more insight into the “dark side” of our consumer systems beyond food production. Yamashita’s book made it clear to me that environmental destruction coincides with human devastation, and I suddenly understood that environmental justice is social justice. Once that connection was made, learning more about environmental concerns—and eventually, the concept of sustainability—became a priority. My English Honors thesis will actually focus on ecology and literature.
How have you seen environmental justice and social justice intersect in Richmond, either on or off campus?
What immediately comes to mind are my SEEDS trips these past two spring breaks. Throughout the week we tracked the coal mining industry, starting with service in impoverished coal mining towns in West Virginia, then going to a mountaintop removal site and doing more service in Charleston, and returning to Virginia to tour the Chesterfield Power Station, which sources its coal chiefly from Appalachia. Our last stop this past year was speaking with the James River Association about a coal ash pond that poses a giant threat to the river. By the end of the trip, we understood how switching on a light on campus connects not only to the threat posed to the river, but also all the way back to the many places we visited and marginalized communities we worked alongside in West Virginia.
What recommendations do you have for students interested in getting more involved with sustainability on campus?
Go listen to speaker series on environmental topics and attend sustainability events. You do not have to be a science major to care about the environment and to take steps toward being an advocate and role model for sustainability. I came into UR with only a vague understanding of environmental concerns, and although my schedule wouldn’t accommodate an Environmental Science minor, I was able to grow my understanding by signing up for related activities and doing some research on my own.
|
|
|
Thank you, Lydia, for all that you do to contribute to sustainability on campus! Do you know someone who should be featured as a Sustainability Champion? Let us know at sustainability@richmond.edu.
|
|
|
|
