Academic Sites › global studies › Students ›

Katie Nelson `06

Hometown: 
Granville, OH

At St. Lawrence

Major: 
Global Studies, Honors
Minor: 
African Studies, French
Activities: 
Orientation Leader, Outdoor Program, Student Ambassador, SLU Dems, Rugby.

After taking a Global Studies course with John Collins my freshman year, I knew that the Global Studies Department would offer me the round education that few other departments could.  A department examining globalization and development issues through the lenses of culture, economics, and the environment provided me with a comprehensive framework to make the most of my study abroad experiences.  I spent a semester in France and another in Kenya during my junior year.  My senior year, I applied for and received a travel and research grant through SLU's Center for International and Intercultural Studies to return to Kenya and conduct a month's worth of qualitative research.  With encouragement from my advisor, I crafted an honors thesis that explored the increasing and complex roles that nonprofits working in Kenya fill following privatization of social welfare programs.

After Graduation

Additional Degrees: MS in Environmental Studies (2012)

Having been exposed to a variety of controversial environmental issues affecting Kenya during my studies abroad, I went on to explore a number of environmental controversies brewing in the American West.  Working seasonally as a wilderness ranger, wildlife tech, and environmental educator, and outreach coordinator in places as disparate as California, Texas, Alberta, Oklahoma, and Montana, I used skills gained through my Global Studies degree to find common ground among disparate stakeholders and move forward on environmentally sensitive issues.  I believe that building relationships between people and between people and the land are both vital to fostering and environmentally conscious culture.  Now at the University of Montana, I am studying communication strategies that biodiversity conversation nonprofits can use to communicate and motivate people to act on climate change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  Thinking globally and acting locally remains the fundamental philosophy guiding my daily activities and thesis research.