Aquatic ecologist Emily Howe is drawn to the messiness of the food web.

Rosa Hunter, lab manager at the Salish Sea Research Center, wants aspiring young scientists to know it’s never too late. Hunter dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and worked every job, from digging ditches to housekeeping, before jumping head first into college at age 32. It was there that she found her love for ancient organisms like tardigrades, trying to reveal their secrets. Her studies led to her work in the sea, where she realized that her grandmother’s guidance clamming as a child could inform her work identifying toxic shellfish in our oceans. “I was like, holy moly, my ancestors were scientists. I come from a line of scientists. That blew my mind,” Hunter said.

There’s nothing Kwasi Addae loves more than Puget Sound.

En EE.UU., las comunidades de color son las que más sufren el impacto del racismo ambiental. Pero los campos de ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas, en especial las ciencias ambientales, siguen siendo dominados por hombres blancos. Una científica de Washington explica por qué la diversidad es importante para su campo. Aprovecha su experiencia para hablar por su comunidad, demostrando cómo la mayor inclusión puede surtir un impacto positivo en las desigualdades ambientales locales.

In the U.S., communities of color are the most affected by environmental racism. Yet STEM fields, particularly environmental science, are still largely dominated by white men. This Washington scientist explains why diversity is important to her field. Using her expertise to speak up for her community, she shows how greater inclusivity can have a positive impact on local environmental inequities.