When Michael Chung was a kid, he always remembered his mom talking about climate change: the rising sea levels, the melting ice caps or the growing acidity of coral reefs.
At a young age, he said climate change was overwhelming to think about, but as he grew older and spent time landscaping with his grandmother, it soon ignited a passion for environmental conservation and a desire to make a difference in his community.
Chung, a fifth-semester environmental engineering major at the University of Connecticut, applied and was chosen to participate in the Land Trust Alliance’s Scholars for Conservation Leadership Program, a national initiative to expand opportunities for students from communities underrepresented in the conservation field.
He had the opportunity to attend the National Land Conservation Conference in Cleveland during the first week in September, where he networked with professionals from the Environmental Protection Agency and other land conservation companies, participated in workshops and spent time outdoors learning to remediate habitats.
“It was life changing,” Chung said. “It was a really great experience just to go and network and meet people and just get your foot in the door.”
Chung is one of nine scholars chosen from around the country, who all have demonstrated a passion in conservation. Two of the scholars will be selected to participate in a paid, year-long fellowship with a land trust to gain work experience following graduation, according to a press release from the Land Trust Alliance.
“The scholars program is building the next generation of conservation leaders in a way that benefits both the students who participate and land conservation more broadly,” Ashley Demosthenes, CEO of the Land Trust Alliance, said in the press release. “These young people bring perspectives and life experience that expand the breadth of communities and professional expertise the conservation sector needs.”
Chung said he is interested in the Land Trust Alliance fellowship but is also open to any opportunity that comes his way, as long as he is in the environment.
“My main drive is being out in the environment, collecting samples, testing samples, site remediation, clearing brownfields, environmental policy, basically everything revolving around the environment,” Chung said. “It doesn’t feel like work to me.”
Chung has dedicated his time at UConn to being a leader in underrepresented communities such as serving on the executive board for the UConn National Society of Black Engineers. He lived in the SCHOLARS learning community, a group of male students who identify as African American or Black, his freshman and sophomore year as well.
As long as we all make a little impact, that little impact is making a bigger impact over time.
Michael Chung, Chung, Fifth-Semester Environmental Engineering
“I feel like at a predominately white institution, it’s very easy to kind of get lost,” he said. “So, I wanted to be with a group of like-minded individuals who would also share my personal experiences.”
Chung said he took his passion for the environment abroad through UConn in Switzerland last year, where he studied sustainable infrastructure, opening his eyes to site remediation.
While he always knew he wanted to work in the environment, Chung said the conference and the scholars program allowed him to get a better idea of what he wants his future career to look like.
After Chung graduates, he said he would love to go back to where he grew up in New Haven, Conn. and spend his career helping underrepresented communities close to home. He said an example could be turning abandoned buildings into parks or recreational spaces that people in the community could enjoy.
When it comes to climate change, Chung said it is not about stopping it, because that is an unrealistic expectation; it is about uniting with other people who also want to make a small impact and start by making a difference at a local level.
“I can’t personally say this is happening and not do anything about it,” he said. “As long as we all make a little impact, that little impact is making a bigger impact over time.”