Anne Green

Anne Green (she/they) will graduate from Stony Brook University’s Honors College in May 2022 with a B.A in Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning. From Brentwood, New York, Anne spent their formidable years living with their grandfather after losing their family home during the 2008 economic recession. Living in a diverse, immigrant community, Anne’s passion for environmental justice took form early on when it was uncovered that their local park was illegally contaminated with DDT, asbestos, lead, arsenic, and petroleum byproducts. Witnessing their community join forces to combat this injustice successfully revealed the importance of community involvement in the pursuit of local and global sustainable development, peace, and equality.

Anne’s passion for sustainability grew tenfold while in Madagascar on study abroad in 2019. There, Anne pursued research under Distinguished Service Professor and Conservationist, Dr. Patricia Wright, to better understand the impacts of development and deforestation on aquatic ecosystems. Anne learned the complex social, political, and economic factors that are inevitably intertwined with global conservation efforts, and began to view conservation from a humanitarian perspective. With this, Anne launched a fundraiser to support financially insecure college students in Madagascar, acknowledging that access to education is a critical component in creating sustainable communities in the long term.

For graduate school, Anne hopes to receive a Master’s in Environmental Management so that they can marry their knowledge in urban design, climate change resiliency, and community capacity building with global environmental management strategies that serve to support conservation and justice. As a 2022 Donald M. Payne fellow, Anne is incredibly excited to begin their lifelong career as an Environment Officer with the USAID Foreign Service. In Anne’s free time, they love to practice speaking Spanish, French, and Malagasy!