From the president
Reggie Wilcox is an Integrated Science and Technology Major with a Concentration in Environment and Sustainability and minors in Business Spanish and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies at James Madison University. Throughout their college career, they have focused on research as a method to improve their community, focusing on topics such as Environmental Justice in transgender and gender-nonconforming communities, improving interdisciplinary education through the implementation of STS pedagogies, and working with the Harrisonburg Fire Department to use optimization models to choose the location of their next fire station. In the future, they will be working on a Capstone project at JMU Farm to improve sustainability and community outreach efforts. They work with the Council on Undergraduate Research through their Scholars Transforming through Research program. On campus, they are a proud member of the STS Futures Lab, Alpha Omega Epsilon STEM Sorority and a volunteer tour guide.
Personal Statement
We had woken up in the middle of the night, taken a ferry to the other side of the island, just for the promise of a beautiful sunrise and the best coral reefs in Puerto Rico. But when the sun rose over the cloudy sky and my best friend made her way into the water, she said "you're not gonna like what you see" and she was right. What used to be a city of corals teaming with life was now gone, replaced by bleached corals, overgrown seaweed and a few lonely fish. On the way home, our taxi driver told us about the environmental atrocities they were facing, and the how hard they have been fighting to save their home. From then on, I have been determined to use the resources and opportunities I have been given to improve the environment through research, civic engagement and outreach. I hope to address issues of environmental injustice, overexploitation of natural resources, and improve sustainability efforts in my community.