College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Program: CSUS

Academic Focus Area: Natural Resources Management and Policy

Hometown: Kigali, Rwanda

Advisor: John Kerr

I am a graduate student at MSU reading natural resources management and policy in the department of community sustainability at Michigan State University. For the past five years, I have been volunteering for the environment with youth organizations in Rwanda and in other parts of Africa; during that time, I was intrigued to see how difficult it is to prioritize environment protection in areas and communities where poverty is the main problem. Learning more about how to reconcile environment protection and poverty reduction will enable me to take part in the promotion of community-based environment-smart development. When I graduate I plan on working with organizations that engage in environmentally sound development in Rwanda and play a big role in encouraging young people to take up the responsibility in environment protection. My long-term goal is to work as a sustainable development practitioner and hopefully build a center for environment and development studies in a bid to promote the culture of research in Rwanda, especially in young professionals.