Abby Abrahamson ’22 has always had a passion for the environment—and now she’s helping instill that passion in others through her work with Bio4Climate.
A sociology and environmental studies double major from Rehoboth, Mass., Abrahamson transferred to MCLA from Bristol Community College, where she connected with a professor who sat on the board of the nonprofit, which focuses on environmental outreach, education, and research. When she was looking for an internship to fulfill her environmental studies requirement, she reached out, and ended up spending last summer working with Bio4Climate on online outreach, social media and web content, and more.
When she was younger, Abrahamson was involved in Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots, an organization that helps empower young people to work on environmental, conservation, and humanitarian issues. “I knew from that I was really interested in connecting with people, and in organizing work,” she said. “I think that’s my niche—interacting with people but also sharing the environment with them.”
Her Bio4Climate internship led to a part-time job this academic year, where she’s responsible for organizing events that help educate her peers about environmental stewardship. Among other events, she’s held a seed packet decorating event, a campus art project where students create art meant to inspire solutions to climate change, and a teach-in on climate and justice.
In addition to planning and hosting events, Abrahamson promotes them on social media, works to find community partners to present on various topics, and collaborates with other organizations to move her advocacy work to other college campuses. “I didn’t want what we do for Bio4Climate to only be accessible for environmental studies and biology students,” she said. “I wanted it to be an interdisciplinary program.”
Abrahamson said she appreciates seeing the intersectional issues around climate in
her classes—a benefit of being at a liberal arts college where students are encouraged
to study lots of different things as they work toward the requirements of their major.
“I’m constantly learning about different angles of the same issues,” she said. “Climate
change isn’t just an environmental issue—it affects people.”
Now that she’s thinking about postgrad life, Abrahamson said she appreciated that Bio4Climate gave her an opportunity to explore her interests and gain experience as an advocate for climate justice. “I got to have some say in how my job was structured—and they gave me the opportunity to do something I really wanted to do, organizing activism,” she said. “It showed me I can follow this path and that being an activist can be a career. I get to interact with students and share something I’m very passionate about. I love talking with students, and getting to learn from them, and having conversations outside the classroom.”
Follow Bio4Climate on Instagram: @Bio4Climate_Students and @Bio4Climate
