Student Profile: Catherine Adams
Major: Social and Environmental Geography
Year: 3rd Year
Hometown: Westerville, OH
Growing up close to Ohio State, Catherine Adams was able to visit the Byrd Polar Research Center on several field trips in high school. She knew she was interested in the environment and climate change and was pretty sure Ohio State was the right place for her studies. While Ohio State has the resources of a large university, Catherine was excited to engage in a relatively small cohort of fellow students and researchers who were interested in working toward climate mitigation and adaptation.
Even so, she was a bit unsure of what to expect in the Geography department. “I honestly wasn’t sure what a geographer does because I’d never met anyone who was a geography major. I had talked to people in environmental policy or planning departments. But then a few friends recommended some geography classes, I took Political Ecology with Mat Coleman, and I knew I wanted to do more of that. I had never read theory before and I found it challenging in a good way.” At Ohio State, she values the interdisciplinary nature of the Geography department. Her major gives her the flexibility to take classes in the science of climatology and gain technical skills in GIS and cartography while also learning political ecology and social geography through courses in Urban China or Economies, Space, and Society. “A lot of the courses offered in the Geography department allow me to dig into issues of power and equity across space in ways that feel very unique, and I think that’s another real strength. I’m provided tools to critically engage with complex issues.”
Catherine hopes to pursue graduate work in geography or environmental policy, with the hope that she can work in an environmental non-profit supporting grassroots climate justice campaigns. When asked what advice she’d give to future students, she encouraged students to take a course in geography. “Coming into OSU, I didn’t have a clear understanding of what geography actually was, but once I took a course, I fell in love and I knew that this was the home for me at OSU. If there are incoming OSU students, I’d say, explore the department and definitely join the Geography Club, which I’m Vice President of,” she said with a laugh. “There are probably a lot more people like me who aren’t aware that geography as a major would be a good fit for them.”
When asked where in the world she’d like to go, she said that she couldn’t decide between two answers. First, she’d like to spend time in China, where there’s a lot of important developments in energy infrastructure. Second, she also wants to visit Athens. “I’m really into Greek mythology and getting to see those places would be really cool.”
Find out more about the Social and Environmental major.
From left: Cordelia Vanderveer, Catherine Adams, and Olivia Marrero at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Catherine Adams at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photos courtesy of Catherine Adams