Jessica Livingstone has always had an interest in environmental science with an eye toward taking a leadership role in helping to save the planet from climate change.
The 20-year-old Brighton resident said it was her Grade 11 year at East Northumberland Secondary School (ENSS) that served to put her on the path to study environmental science at Fleming College in Peterborough. Moreover, it was the doom-and-gloom of the news coverage of climate issues that galvanized her ambitions to pursue a career that encompassed combatting climate change.
“In Grade 11 I wanted to do something in science but I wasn’t quite sure what. I kept seeing all these news stories and all these no-hope situations (in reference to climate change) that people were talking about and I was like ‘Well, I don’t think there is no hope completely’ so I ‘d like to figure out how I can help and figure out some way to contribute to something like that, something bigger,” she noted.
She credited ENSS educator Anne Falla for feeding her curiosity of the sciences and for her mentorship throughout her high school career.
“I just had really good teachers in high school I think. Ms Falla was really key in pushing me toward science I think. I had her in Grade 9 and she kind of lit up my whole passion for it. And having her throughout my years in chemistry and environmental science just kind of drove me to do something in that direction,” said Livingstone.
While attending ENSS, she worked for a full year on an award-winning science fair project that encompassed an investigation into environmental practices in Ontario as they related to e-waste.
In between attending her first year of classes at Fleming College, she also agreed to serve as the youth representative on the Brighton Advisory Council on the Environment.
In her first year on the committee, Livingstone said she’s pleased to have a hand in shaping environmental policy in the municipality. She was recommended to the committee by Anne Falla and later received an appointment to the committee, where she provides a youth prospective on sustainability issues within the municipality.
Livingstone said she plans to return to Fleming College in the fall for her second year in the Environmental Science program. She will switch to Trent University for her third year in the program toward earning a diploma as well as a degree.
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(Written by: Alan Rivett)
