Violet is a current third year Environmental Earth Sciences student at the University of St Andrews

She believes in education that’s rooted in real-world experience—getting hands-on with the environment to understand how it works, not just being told what to think. She has found a lot of enjoyment doing this in her own life through things like fieldwork as well as finding opportunities to integrate these values into her early career.

Violet has spent time in the field studying wetlands, native ecosystems, and degraded environments such as mines—experiences that have shaped how she thinks about environmental challenges and solutions while also allowing her to learn in an outdoor classroom.

She has had the privilege to participate in internships in ecological consulting and sustainability outreach which have taught her the value of pairing hard science with public engagement. Violet finds a lot of value in working with the numbers behind local and national policies and letting the data do a lot of the communicating.

Violet has led education programmes for young people and communities as part of her internship with Ecology Action, a non-profit in Northern California, always aiming to spark curiosity and critical thinking, not just pass on information.

She is passionate about helping people connect with the natural world through science—observing it, questioning it, and understanding it for themselves.

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