Projeto Verde Mar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
My main areas of academic focus and activism are climate change and communication. I come from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and have lived in Trieste, Italy where I attended UWC Adriatic. I have three years of experience in citizen journalism, that includes written pieces, podcast and social media work. I was a speaker at the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas 2021 and was invited to the UN Headquarters in New York City to share my thoughts on youth's engagement in 2019.
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Working with Projeto Verde Mar I had the opportunity to engage with environmental reporting and conservation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I am from. Thanks to this internship, I gained insight on the specificities of environmental work in Brazil, such as our policies and current challenges.
I was able to assist Biology field study at the university level which focussed on marine invertebrates. I helped with the set up of temporary aquariums in the beach, learned about how to carefully handle this animals and place them in a safe environment until they can be returned to the sea. During my time I also researched and summarized new scientific findings related to climate change's impact on mangrooves and the role of agroforestry in the Atlantic forest, creating brief reports in Portuguese language.
I also had the opportunity to attend the Glocal Experience Conference and hear from remarkable figures in Brazilian environmentalism, activism, transportation sector and etc. The topics ranged from water management and security, to the important of a just energy transition and how we can imagine a decarbonized future. After three days of conference, I wrote a report on the key takeaways and personal reflections. Lastly, I worked on documenting the expansion of sports areas in beaches in Rio and how that impacted the local scenery, pollution and people's experience of the area.
Overall, this internship allowed me to work independently whilst contributing to Projeto Verde Mar's goals of communicating sustainability and environmental news and supporting local action to improve marine ecosystems. Thanks to the generous support of this Internship Fellowship I was able to better envision how the urban population has an important role in the protection of the natural environment that exists amongst and around the city, and how communication and education are key ways to increase responsability towards our environment and build relationship with nature.