Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

While climate change has already impacted almost every ecosystem on the planet and will unequivocally continue to do so, these impacts are not evenly felt across societies. On both global and local scales, environmental degradation disproportionately burdens those who are already faced with the brunt of inequity. Those human stories, in their nuances of both ache and resilience, are important to share as an impetus for creating equity-centered systems of governance that support all communities. For my Capstone Project, I used the tools of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and the historically rich artform of printmaking to conceptualize two case studies of climate and environmental justice: hurricane impacts in Puerto Rico, and the necessity of anti-racism within conservation. My deliverable is a body of linocut prints that transitions the intellectual to the personal in an exploration of Hurricane María and my family history. I hope this work sparks conversation about the multifaceted connections between environment and society, and the unique roles we might each play moving forward.