Sometimes taking one class can completely change your point of view. That was the case for Chelsea Encababian, a Bronx native who went to college intending to major in Asian Studies and become a Japanese Translator. Despite her intentions, she decided to enroll in an Environmental Ethics course during her sophomore year of college, because she knew the instructor was incredibly passionate. This course ultimately influenced her college experience and future career more than she could have ever imagined. 

Chelsea’s extracurriculars revolved around environmentalism and so did her coursework. After graduating with a double major in Asian Studies and Environmental Studies, Chelsea interned at Why Hunger, a non-profit concerned with international food security. She worked for sustainable development projects with Tsa’chila and Kichwa communities in Ecuador, spent three years as an educator in Korea, then returned to the United States where she’s worked for GrowNYC’s Recycling Champions Program as the Recycling Outreach Coordinator and Queens Botanical Garden as the Compost Project Manager. Throughout her career, Chelsea never forgot the main takeaways from her Environmental Ethics course. Most ethical problems don’t have simple solutions, requiring openness to a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and political beliefs.

Chelsea now lives in Queens, joining the Sustainability program in Fall 2020 to meet more sustainability professionals in NYC. She enjoys the collaborative nature of the courses, including the capstone she’s started with two other students that studies economic and climate resilience in Community Land Trusts. She loves gardening and in particular working with compost. For anyone interested in plants, she recommends reading “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.