Meet our summer interns, Lisa and Nicole

by Tanya Dreizin, Lisa Furger, and Nicole Hiltbrand | Reading time: 3.5 minutes

Meet our newest summer interns, Lisa and Nicole from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. We are so grateful they made the journey to Hawaiʻi from Switzerland, and are excited to work with them over the next few months.

Meet Lisa:

My name is Lisa, I am a Swiss environmental student and I am currently doing my master’s in environmental systems and policy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. I grew up in the French part of Switzerland, then moved to the Italian part and I am now studying in the German one, blessing me this way with a broad Swiss cultural background and the willingness to discover different contexts.

To give you a deeper insight of my person, I would define myself a lover of life, nature and the tranquility the latter gives me. I enjoy immersing myself in nature’s spectacular landscapes, that convey to me a sense of fascination of its colors, shapes, smells and living entities that belong to it. Caring so deeply about the natural ecosystems and the Earth we live on is a feeling I have developed growing and discovering nature in Switzerland (by hiking a lot in the Alps). Research conducted by personal interest and studies led me then to the environmental crisis my country is facing as well as the whole world, eliciting in me a feeling of injustice and willingness to feel part of something that fights for nature and communities.

My involvement with the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi is therefore a unique opportunity and I feel very grateful to be able to engage myself in the Hawaiian context. A context which is characterized by a different background and cultural values compared to the ones I know, but with a common ground for the climate fight, which to me is finding an equilibrium with the natural ecosystem in order to sustain life and the well-being of land, water, air, wildlife and people.

Interning with the Sierra Club gives me the possibility to get in contact with the local community, the environmental problems and injustices happening here by participating to events and volunteering in projects, such as the Red Hill Walk for Water or community workdays.

I have been here for a month already and up to this point, this internship has enriched me so much already, in the field as well as in the desk research part, and will for sure continue so with its progression.

Mahalo nui to the Sierra Club and to Wayne for making this experience possible and for making me part of the Team these 4 months.

Meet Nicole:

I am Nicole and I am from Switzerland, where I am doing a Master's degree in Environmental Science at the ETH Zurich.

I enjoy experiencing all the activities nature has to offer such as outdoors sports, but also spending time with people, eating local food and relating to my surroundings. I believe that respect and interest in our surroundings are the basis of an enriching life. This is why I decided to study environmental science, with a focus on environmental systems and policies.  I am very interested in studying the connection between humans and nature, which I believe should not be studied as separate entities, but rather as one interconnected and inseparable system. I am still trying to understand how I can better contribute to transform this system into a resilient and just one.

Fortunately, I have the opportunity to intern with the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, an experience that is truly inspiring and is teaching me a whole new perspective on environmental matters.  While I am here, I am able to dwell into native Hawaiian culture, management practices and learn about the issues faced by the population, as well as the solution designed to deal with them. With Lisa, we are participating in several community workdays and resources management activities and we have the chance to talk with very inspiring people. In the meanwhile, we are doing literature research on the topics of restorative justice and climate resiliency here in Hawaiʻi.

I am really impressed by the sense of community, the care for the nature and the people and the activism that I am finding here .

Mahalo nui to Wayne and the Sierra Club for this incredibly enriching opportunity!