One grad student’s story: from English lit to global climate talks

Vasquez, Valeri

ERG grad student Valeri Vasquez will be at the COP21, acting as a counselor to the co-chair of the United Nations climate negotiations, Daniel Reifsnyder. She has been advising on the mediation and negotiations among the 195 national parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“One thing that I loved about studying literature was the storytelling aspect, and what I have found through my work in the climate arena, when I first began an internship with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Deepwater Horizon spill had just happened. More than anything, that kind of drove home the very personal stories that are associated with impacts on our environment, and that the choices that companies and countries and even individuals make impact the air we breathe and the water we drink.”

Read more in her interview with BerkeleyNews.