Aishah-Nyeta Brown, ISE’s first undergraduate student assistant, is graduating this semester! She is finishing her studies at Mason with a B.A. in Environmental Sustainability Studies and a Concentration in Climate Change and Society.
“I grew up in Roanoke, VA and after high school, I got a competitive fine arts scholarship which led me to pursue an associates degree in fine arts. I was passionate about music as well and had great mentors including one who won a Grammy Award! But after getting my associates I took a semester off to decide what is next. “ A first-generation college student, Aishah carefully considered her next steps and toured schools in the state. She also sought advice from her godparents, who recommended that if she is going to continue her college career, she might want to consider finding a program where she has a bit of experience, and that is more technical.
“Because that’s the smarter thing to do is basically” – her uncle said, and as Aishah thought about it more she realized that when she studied at the University of Pretoria in high school, she enjoyed learning about climate change. More specifically how “changing climate is connected, no matter where you are in the world”. So, she focused on learning about environmental sustainability and geospatial technologies.
She chose Mason because of the school’s strong research program in environmental sciences and started in the Spring semester of 2019. “The first thing that I did when I got to Mason was apply to the Global Sustainability Scholars program, and then I met Dr. Aurali Dade and started to work on the just established Institute for a Sustainable Earth. I was able to do a lot of work basically digging on the ground with different professors.”
“Aishah is an impressive student and was a great asset to the team as we built ISE.” said Leah Nichols, Executive Director of ISE. Aishah researched and helped ISE understand faculty and student interests in sustainability. With the Global Sustainability Scholars, Aishah spent three summers doing research (one in Germany, and then the rest remote because of the pandemic). She published a paper on “Becoming a Global minded Scientist and the Short and Long-Term Impacts of International Exchange” in the journal Research in Geographic Education in 2020, and presented her work at the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress in 2021.
“You can have it all, it just looks different than what the teenage version of me was thinking,” -says Aishah about integrating her music and arts with a science degree – “I’m really happy that I chose Mason. I was able to work on the anti-racist reading group with the visual and performing arts program and I got to meet a lot of professors in that sector.” Aishah is also the creative director for Black Girl Environmentalist group. Last but not least, her high-impact project for the undergraduate research scholars’ program in OSCAR also uses her combined skillsets producing a children’s show on climate change.
What’s next after graduation, you might wonder. “ I can’t go to grad school without building a foundation and developing a sense of what I want out of my own adult life. So I’m going to work first. Education will always be there and I already have two degrees and nobody can take that from me, so I don’t feel a rush to decide on a PhD program.”
“Go ground yourself and build a foundation and a healthy life for yourself.” – Aishah’s message to graduates. Congratulations to all!