Esaac Mazengia
UW Honors Graduates
Esaac Mazengia
Environmental Science & Terrestrial Resource Management
Political Science
Designation: College Honors
Honors Grads 2020/2021
Proudest Moment: Tied between helping to secure a room for learning and organizing around DEI principles in the College of the Environment with the Community Equity Initiative, and Passing legislation regarding fossil fuel divestment through ASUW Seattle, Bothell, Tacoma, GPSS, and the Faculty Senate over the course of 6 months with Institutional Climate Action!
Thesis: Time, Trauma, & Lack of Information: Exploring Barriers to Accessing Public Lands within East African Immigrant Communities
Hi, I’m Esaac! I am an overcommitted commuter student with a passion for Environmental Justice, policy, and community empowerment. My interests are wide and varied ranging from long term ecosystem management projects to racial and ethnic politics, and so I have loved the extraordinary breadth pursuing college honors has provided. I have studied abroad in Costa Rica with Honors with the wonderful Drs. Moon Draper and Jon Herron and conducted 2 summers of field research at the UW Olympic Natural Resource Center in Forks, Washington with Dr. Bernard Bormann and PhD student Courtney Bobsin. I have been involved in a wide range of activities from ASUW Student Senate to College of the Environment Student Leadership and have loved every minute of it. My top advice for incoming students, would be to get involved, you never know what crazy opportunities and experiences will come your way from people you meet volunteering, in classes, etc.
After graduation, I will be working with the National Park Service in Volcanoes National Park in Hawai'i in an AmeriCorps position helping with a long-term monitoring project before returning hopefully to pursue graduate studies in environmental science/resource management and public policy.