Working with a NGO on the Conserving the Pantanal and Gran Chaco Wildlands project has been an incredibly meaningful experience for me. I grew up in the Pantanal region in Brazil, and I have family in Colombia and Bolivia, two places where the project is taking place. I have seen the effects of deforestation in these areas since I was a kid, so being part of an effort to protect both the land and the people there feels surreal. Sometimes I still cannot believe I am in Washington, D.C., working with a major NGO on a cause that is so personal.
One of my main goals was to understand how conservation policies work in real life and how different groups, governments, NGOs, and Indigenous communities come together to protect the environment. I quickly realized that it is tough to balance everyone’s needs and interests. I saw this up close during meetings, where finding common ground was always a big challenge. This reminded me of some of my classes, Environmental Policy Making in Developing Countries and Global Conflict Analysis and Resolution, where we discussed how economic growth, community rights, and environmental protection often clash. Experiencing this in my daily work really opened my eyes to these challenges.
I also was able to help the team prepare for COP 16, a major global biodiversity conference. I attended webinars with experts from around the world who discussed nature-based strategies for climate adaptation, environmental health, and sustainability, all subjects I learned about in my coursework in Global Affairs but now saw playing out in real life contexts. It was exciting to put my classroom skills to use.
I truly believe that this experience has been valuable for my future career in environmental conservation. I have seen how international relations, conservation efforts, and local needs all intersect, and how hard it can be to balance them. I am excited to bring what I have learned back to my studies and keep working toward my goal of making a real impact in global conservation.
January 24, 2025