Berkley Center

For the next four months I will be living in Ecuador and studying abroad at Saint Francis University of Quito (Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, USFQ). Ever since I began studying Spanish, I knew that I wanted to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country in order to achieve fluency. As I began to sharpen the focus of my educational career I realized that Latin America had much more to offer me than simply a landscape in which hone my Spanish skills. A government major and chemistry minor at Georgetown, I chose Ecuador because of the many opportunities it could provide me related to the environmental field. Renown for its abundant biodiversity, Ecuador is an ideal country in which to study climate change because it is already witnessing the effects of environmental change. But even more importantly, it is an excellent place to explore the emerging new topic of biocultural diversity.

A question that has long intrigued me is what motivates people to embrace stewardship practices. Cultural values instilled in me by my Catholic and Jesuit education have taught me the importance of stewardship and living simply. For this reason, I am eager to discover how cultural values either engender or impede environmental consciousness. Biocultural diversity helps illuminate this dimension of climate change by recognizing that areas of tremendous biodiversity often overlap with regions of great cultural diversity. Home to a large indigenous population that possesses a wealth of traditional knowledge about ecological and natural processes, Ecuador will provide me with an unparalleled opportunity to engage in cultural dialogue about climate change. Next week I will begin a program with the Office of Ethnic Diversity at USFQ that fosters dialogue between exchange students and indigenous students. I look forward to discussing this topic in the forum.