Sustainability Scholars Mayari Burt ’27 Nina Capaldi ’27, and Keita Narusawa ’26 presented on December 5.
Coral reefs in Italy, natural reserves in Japan, and the tropical rainforests of Papua New Guinea were among the topics explored by Sustainability Scholars Nina Capaldi ’27, Keita Narusawa ’26, and Mayari Burt ’27. Presenting in Kemper Auditorium (Kemper) on December 5, the scholars studied how their respective country addresses the challenges of maintaining a sustainable environment.
With the support of the Community and Multicultural Development (CaMD) Office and the Brace Center for Gender Studies (Brace), the Sustainability Scholar program was founded by Allison Guerette, Manager of Sustainability, Climate, and Energy Programs and faculty advisor for the Phillips Academy Sustainability Coalition (PASC). Guerette explained that the program was created as an extension of opportunities available to students for scholarship.
“In January of 2023, I reached out to the Brace Fellows director and the previous CaMD Scholar director and asked for their advice on starting a research program for sustainability. They had just released the application for next year’s scholars, but they encouraged me to run with the idea and added a section for sustainability scholars to the application. They held my hand through the first year, and, with their support, it was a success,” wrote Guerette in an email to The Phillipian.
Capaldi conducted research regarding red coral endangerment due to global warming, ocean acidification, and overharvesting. In her presentation, Capaldi shared how she found inspiration for this topic through her visits to coastal Italy.
“I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Italy on many occasions, as my family members are from Italy. These trips inspired me to wonder about the way the sea impacts Italian life. The effects of climate change on massive reefs like the Great Barrier Reef are fairly commonly known, but I was curious as to how it shapes Italian coastal environments and the communities that depend on them,” said Capaldi.
Narusawa’s research on Japan’s history explored how the geography of countries can affect their economy and resource management. Narusawa emphasized how natural resource limitations can act as catalysts for innovation and national policy.
“What makes Japan an important case study is that its challenges foreshadow those of many other nations, especially places like Germany, Singapore, France, and island states with limited land or natural resources. History shows us that constraints can become catalysts for innovation, for new partnerships, and for reimagining what an energy-secure future looks like. As the world moves towards a renewable future, the technologies Japan is pioneering today may become essential tools for global energy security tomorrow,” said Narusawa.
Attendee Jeff Shen ’26 shared his key takeaways from Narusawa’s presentation. He appreciated Narusawa’s attention to historical detail, describing how it broadened his perspective on energy.
“The most significant thing I learned from [Narusawa’s] presentation was the ubiquitous nature of energy, how even something as little as the light above me is impacting me, and I don’t have to [only] think about renewable energy and energy interdependence as something that’s present on a global scale through government organizations. It was really shocking to have that point of perspective,” said Shen.
In her project, Burt focused on distinct approaches to conservation for individual islands in Papua New Guinea. Through her research, she discovered that local environments were best supported through knowledge specific to the land.
“I was researching how the fact that [the geography] is decentralized can be very powerful and lead to a more intimate conservation approach in different areas. Something interesting is that in these conservation areas, there [isn’t] these overlying guidelines, because a lot of the guidelines with how conservation happens in Papua New Guinea [come] from traditional ecological knowledge. [Those] are passed down in generations… It differs for every single clan,” said Burt in an interview with The Phillipian.
Reflecting on Burt’s presentation, Jasjit Hargun ’27 emphasized the importance of local outreach in conservation efforts. He pointed out that qualitative data can address critical issues regarding sustainability.
“[Burt’s presentation] is really important because part of sustainability isn’t just reducing the number of emissions but also going to the people who are most affected and asking them, ‘How can we help? What do you think the solutions are?’ It’s really important that we don’t just look at the data… We also actually go to the communities of people most affected and ask them what [they] need so that we focus our efforts on the right places,” said Hargun.
Capaldi drew a connection between the work of all three scholars with a call to action. She reminded the audience that climate change can be mitigated through individual action and stressed the importance of local outreach.
“You can look at our presentations and if you think about climate change, it can be really scary sometimes. But when we look at the solutions that we’ve come up with [and] all this research to be done, there is still hope for the future. Something that we talked about is that it’s really important for communities. You have to work with communities and the people that are actually a part of the problem,” said Capaldi.
