We were told during our very first zoom call that the Huang Fellows Program used to be for pre-med students only. It made complete sense that the founder, Dr. Andrew Huang, would want to help students who were in a similar position as he had once been in. But even though the program has changed since then, it did make me wonder… what was I, an environmental science student, doing in the Huang Fellows Program?

I wasn’t wondering for long though. I was reminded during that call what the program is all about: finding ways to make sure that your science, whatever that may be, is conducted ethically, utilized in innovative ways, and used to benefit the most people possible. Of course, medicine may be one’s first idea regarding the application of science to society, but other fields be used in the service of people too. I wanted to explore how my passion for the Earth can be used in the same way. And so, when our Deputy Director Buz Waitzkin said there was an open slot in the syllabus, I jumped at the chance to ask for someone who’s passion mirrored mine.

Little did I know that Buz went and found the person who seemed the most removed from me, Dean Toddi Steelman of the Nicholas School of the Environment. As an Earth and Climate Science major, which is housed in the Nicholas School, I’ve heard Dean Steelman’s name before, but as a freshman the dean of the graduate school seemed intimidating and far away.

That was the opposite of who she was, though, as I came to find out.

Dr. Steelman began her talk by telling us her personal story, starting with her childhood as a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia. Her words painted a picture of her life, as clear as any movie montage, but her story was far from linear. She didn’t discover environmental science as an academic field or career until she went back to school for her master’s, so she started with an interest in international development. One thing led to another, and after various jobs and experiences, both good and bad, she went to Duke for her Ph.D. She moved around the country and even to Canada for jobs, ultimately ending back up at Duke, where she has been the Dean of the Nicholas School ever since (the 3-year anniversary happened to be the day she talked to us!).

Raised in Southern California myself, my story has been radically different than hers, yet I could see the themes that she talked about woven into my life too. Listening to her story was not only a glimpse of what a career as an environmental researcher and communicator could look like, but it also touched worries that I didn’t even know that I had. What if I am majoring in the wrong thing? What if my ‘dream job’ turns out not to be my dream after all?

She indeed did major in the “wrong thing,” but it turned out to give her knowledge and background that still helps in her decision making. Without this experience, she never would have worked in DC and in Africa, might not have found her true interests, and may have never pursued higher degrees or research.

That was another experience that Dr. Steelman needed to keep moving on her path, her job in Africa. In Zimbabwe, she understood the importance of making sure that your goals, values, ethics, and a healthy dose of realism align. Her invaluable time there taught me that the way to learn these life lessons is to experience things that push you and force you to constantly reflect introspectively to see how you are growing.

This leads into perhaps the biggest takeaway for me from Dr. Steelman’s talk, bigger than anything environmentally related that I had anticipated. She learned to ask, “What does it take to make a whole person well?”

Because of the pandemic and the transition to college, I have learned that mental health and self-care are important facets of my life, but I had never heard this term before, treating yourself as a “whole person.” Dr. Steelman explained that after a medical crisis she had while getting her PhD, she realized that she wasn’t taking all three aspects of wellness into account: physical, mental, and spiritual. However, she said that she “had to crash and burn to learn these lessons.” Dr. Steelman has taken this lesson forward with her, keeping in mind her whole person throughout jobs, life decisions, cross-country moves, and more. But beyond just yourself, your “whole person” includes your family and community, which she says can help ground you too.

This lesson applies beyond you as an individual, it can apply to how you do your science. Just like we have to think of ourselves as whole people, we have to think about society as a whole, which is how she approaches environmental advocacy as well. From her family background and roots, she learned to approach sustainability in terms of all three pillars, social, economic, and environmental.

And so, what am I, an environmental science student, doing in the Huang Fellows Program? Because of Dean Toddi Steelman, I know that my passion for the environment, my background, and my own crooked path can lead to a whole person that is ready to make a difference.

Emily Nagamoto, Huang Fellow ’24

Emily is a prospective Earth and Ocean Science major and is fascinated by the way the natural world works, and how we as humans fit in.