Student Spotlight: Surabhee Eswaran
Surabhee Eswaran is a senior at Tulane University, majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Public Health and Psychology. In the Summer of 2023 and 2024, Surabhee had the opportunity to intern at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health. Under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Gottesman and Dr. Renée Groechel, she was involved in researching how psychosocial health modified the association between cerebral small vessel disease (CVSD) markers and dementia. At the end of the internship, Surabhee was awarded an “Exceptional Summer Student” poster award for her work. The outcomes of the study resulted in her first author publication in the medical journal Stroke.
Through this experience, Surabhee has been able to combine two of her passions, neuroscience and public health. After graduating, she plans to attend medical school and continue her research, focusing on how social and environmental factors are associated with health outcomes in marginalized communities.
Alumni in the Spotlight: Liat Perlin
Current Work
Liat is a currently serving Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. She is working with rural extension agents from the Guatemalan ministry of agriculture in the western highlands of the country to improve rural food security. In particular, she is using grant funding from Peace Corps to construct an organic supply and distribution center in her community to help bring local, healthy produce to schools. She is also picking up the local language, Ixil, and learning to weave in the traditional style (check out that shirt!)
Inspiration
Liat, as a Tulane senior double majoring in Environmental Studies and Psychology, won the 2017 EVST departmental honors thesis of the year with her work, An Ecofeminist Analysis of Rural Agricultural Development. Much of her drive to join the Peace Corps derived from the inspiring professors who served on her undergraduate thesis committee, Laura McKinney, Amalia Leguizamón, and Mark VanLandingham. Moreover, she is constantly inspired to question systems and fight for food sovereignty by the work of activist, Vandana Shiva, whom she had the opportunity to invite and introduce to lecture at Tulane in March 2017. Her advice to current EVST students is to build strong relationships with the professors and peers you meet throughout your studies. These people form a foundation for immense future personal and intellectual growth!
EVST/Tulane experience
- Hosted Vandana Shiva through EVST speaker series
- Garden Coordinator at Green Light New Orleans through Tulane Center for Public Service
- Newcomb College Institute Internship to work at Navdanya farm in India
- CIEE semester abroad in Thailand focusing on environmental issues in international development
- Hope Gardens
- Adirondack Youth Climate Summit EVST invitee
- Tulane Green Club
Course in the Spotlight: Urban Gardening
The Tulane Environmental Studies program in conjunction with the Center for Public Service introduced the course in Urban Gardening in the Spring Term of 2018. Growing out of the understanding of the pioneering environmentalist Aldo Leopold that our encountering and becoming connected with the dynamic of the “land pyramid” is critical to the establishment of a genuine environmental ethic within each individual human, Urban Gardening emphasizes a hands-on approach to learning with students gardening both in home gardens and within various community partners’ gardens on a daily basis. This Spring Term (2019) students in Urban Gardening have partnerships with Edible Schoolyards at Samuel Green and Phyllis Wheatley Schools, and with St. Anna’s Community Center, The Chapel of the Holy Spirit and Newcomb Children’s Center among others.
In their learning with the children and youth served by these community partners Tulane students participate in the age-old practice of passing along the skills of gardening to a new generation both as an enjoyable pastime and as a fundamental cornerstone of human community.
Alumni in the Spotlight: Rachel Kahn
“I love the passion from both EVST students and faculty about environmental justice and climate change mitigation. I’ve learned so much in this program because I’ve been able to take courses from all different disciplines yet each with an environmental focus. It’s been such a unique opportunity to experience the environmental issues that take place in the Greater New Orleans area and learn firsthand how local citizens and organizations are affected by climate change.”
Rachel has been a very active member of the EVST community at Tulane and one well known and respected by both EVST Faculty and her peers.
Rachel has interned with the following organizations:
- Sustainability Associate Intern at LifeCity, LLC
- Community Outreach Intern at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
- Student Assistant at the Tulane Environmental Studies Department
- Research Intern at the Tulane ByWater Institute
- Environmental Compliance Intern at the Tulane Office of Environmental Health and Safety
Student Organizations:
- USG Sustainability Committee
Study Abroad:
During her junior year, Rachel participated in the Sustainable Development in Northern Europe program at DIS Copenhagen.
Rachel's favorite EVST classes include:
- POLA 4230 Environmental Politics and Policy
- HISU 2912 U.S. Environmental History
- EVST 4010 Environmental and Social Justice in NOLA (EVST Summer Program)
Alumni in the Spotlight: Bradley Tyson
Bradley's Current Job:
Bradley is an Associate Analyst in the Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Division of Moody’s, focusing on Latin America and US power and renewables.
Bradley has interned with the following organizations:
- Analyst for DCDB, a boutique consulting firm in Buenos Aires, specializing in renewable energy and mining in Latin America.
- Analyst for FARN, an environmental think tank in Buenos Aires, working for environmental policy change in Argentina’s Congress.
- Analyst for World Trade Center of New Orleans, specializing in energy investment in New Orleans and Louisiana.
Study Abroad:
Bradley spent one year studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied environmental studies at the University of Buenos Aires, taking courses in Oceanography, Advanced Oceanography, and Urban Geography.
Bradley's favorite EVST classes include:
- Environmental Sociology with Amalia Leguizamón
- Environmental Economics
- Tropical Biology