Before joining the MA program in climate and society, Lina Maria Villegas spent several years as a military linguist and hired, learning a completely new language and culture, an experience that aroused her curiosity about the world and took her to school for geographical sciences to Maryland University.
Now, Villegas is studying a different language: that of environmental policy and climate science. He also serves as Vice President of Internal Affairs of the Columbia Climate Student Government and a member of the Student Leadership Participation Initiative. He is currently an assistant to investigate the NASA climate change research initiative, in collaboration with Cuny, which helps characterize the surface temperature of the urban land in New York. Read more about the trip of the Villegas roundabout to climate school in the questions and answers below.
Tell us a little about how you were interested in climate space.
In primary school, I remember conversations in the auditorium about electricity and small things to be aware, such as leaving the light on the room when the water moves or off when your teeth brush. I became the little environmentalist in our house, following all those around them, turning off all the lights. Since then, I have been increasingly aware of different ways in which our actions have an impact on the world around us.
I started carrying a reusable water bottle eight years ago. When I saw friends and colleagues who held plastic water bottles, sometimes I asked if they considered changing a reusable water bottle, but not in any way critically, or making someone feel bad for their choices. Most of them would say no. And I would say: ‘Well, if you think about it, you use at least one bottle of water a day for number of years. I’ve been taking this for eight years. Multiply that for a bottle of water a day, think about how much I could save if you changed.
Do you think that individual climatic actions make a difference?
A podcast that I heard a while ago spoke about the debate between small and large actions, or personal actions and corporate entities, and do we really make a difference as individuals? He argued on both sides. What remained most was that our actions could be a drop of water, but water creates wave effects. I, carrying a bottle of water, with this conversation with friends and colleagues, I know a group of people who have made small changes for that. Create this great community of consciousness. You don’t know how far it could go.
What led you to your studies in weather?
For a long time, I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I thought I wanted to be veterinarian, but I lost the scholarship I had and didn’t want to borrow. Then I joined the army. I thought I would get some exposure there to see what I want to continue in life. Or I would pay my school, so win. I worked as a linguist for six years with the army, and another year and a half as a contractor.
But I felt unhappy and dissatisfied. I decided to follow my passion for environmentalism. I originally went to Maryland University (UMD) for environmental sciences, but I discovered that there was much more chemistry and mathematics than I wanted to do as a student I returned. The geographical sciences, on the other hand, did not involve that and also had maps, which I have always loved.
I had a guest teacher at UMD who turned out to be a student at the Columbia Climate School. I heard about all the incredible things that school was doing, and I knew I wanted to be part of that.
How their varied experience and experience formed their way to climate school?
The language I learned was Pashtu, which is from Afghanistan. It is not widely used, so I have not been able to practice it much since then, but I love the language, people, culture and experience I had. Learn a completely new language and culture that I had never really seen expand my horizons, and my love for learning and curiosity really grew there.
As a university student, I also had the opportunity to study abroad in Copenhagen. The class was climate change and Arctic ecosystems. We learned about how the different ecosystems within the Arctic interact with each other, their status quo and how they are affected by climate change. Part of the course was also learning to generate our own studies. We have to go to Greenland for two weeks. I never thought that a girl from Miami, Florida, ended in Greenland in her life. All that experience was wonderful, and I got a lot from the field work we did. That same summer, in 2022, I visited my friend in France. It was half of that heat wave without air conditioning and then compared that with Greenland, he really showed me how many changes are happening worldwide and how different the prepared regions are different.
What do you expect to remove from the master’s degree and society?
One of the things I realized while I was at UMD is the strong disconnection between science and politics. Scientists are discovering these things here, and politicians are making their decisions there. But there is not much bridge between the two, or it is dim at best. I want to complete that space to help generate more green opportunities in the future. Learning that urban populations will increase to 70% by 2050 compared to the current 50%, I also think about the impact that more sustainable policies could have for people who move to these spaces and those that already exist in them.
In my first class in climatic school, we talk about how “learning the architecture of the system is the best way to affect the change in that system.” I am excited to learn everything about that, because that is not something that has been exposed before. I am excited to study climatic investment and politics with Lisa SachsAnd trying to look at the ‘wicked‘Problems we face today and possible solutions. I also want to learn from other students with incredible history of weather. I am a bit weird for what everyone has been able to do in their lives so far.
I think, being in climate space, I need to have a positive perspective, or could not continue doing so. My name is a forced optimistic. I cannot believe that we have already reached the limit and we reach the inflection points and there is no turning back. I have to move on and see what I can do and how I can help other people do what they need to do.
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