GRAD STUDENT – Physics PhD Candidate & Sustainability Champion
“I grew up in a small town in western Massachusetts. I went to undergrad at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. And I had no idea what I wanted to do and I tried out a lot of things. I ultimately decided on Physics [because] I really enjoyed it and I also studied Spanish, which I thought was a cool combination. And then later, in my undergrad career, I got involved in research, and I had an awesome mentor, who really made me think maybe I could go to grad school, maybe this could be for me. So I applied in the pandemic [and] I was lucky to get into a few places. But because of the pandemic, I couldn’t travel, so I really just took a shot in the dark. I loved the people that I spoke to during the Zoom open house here in Michigan. I had never been to Michigan before [and] I signed a lease never having seen the place. But it’s been great. It’s been wonderful. I came here, I am currently going into my fourth year which is scary to say, and I am a particle theorist. So I think about models of particle physics, and then explore ways that you could put them to the test [and] use data to inform a model building process.
So, at my undergrad, astronomy and physics was actually one department. Here it’s two, but they’re kind of sister departments. There’s a lot of overlap and similarities. In hindsight, I think that the astronomy focus actually did kind of inspire me when it comes to [thinking about] the climate. Just because, I mean, exoplanets are a hot thing now. And I think there’s something about seeing a few other 1000 examples of planets and that type of thing, and all the different factors that go into determining what that planet is like. I feel like it made me…I don’t know, maybe the best way [to say it is] it gives you some perspective. People say you’re just a tiny rock floating in space, you know, and I kind of had that [moment of realization].
I would actually say that my interest in climate [and the environment] predates even going into astronomy though. I grew up at the end of a dead-end road and our house was surrounded by woods. And I feel like nature has always been sort of calming and something that I love. I remember we had a family of foxes that was living under our shed for a little while. And I just remember when I was a kid, seeing the little pups and everything. It was very, very cute. So I love that stuff. I love planet Earth. I just love being outside. And I think, as I got interested in science in general, it became clear to me that [climate change] could pose a serious challenge [to all of this]. So I’ve been interested in it for a long time. And I think I kind of oscillated between…or there was a time when I was very disenchanted and feeling helpless. But then I [decided] it’d be beneficial for me as a person if I tried to get involved in some way, and hopefully, [then] I can do a little bit of good work in general. So I heard about [the Sustainability Champion program] through the Year of Sustainability [when] there was a big push, and I signed up, and it’s been great so far.“
“[Regarding climate change, I want people] to view it as solvable. I view it as solvable, with surmountable difficulty. For sure, it’s very serious, but I think that there are concrete actions that each person can take to address it. Just because, I don’t know, I don’t find despair very motivating. And so I feel like [it’s necessary] that people believe in their own capacity for change. And I feel like I’ve been trying to practice that sort of positive outlook, not always successfully. But I think, yeah, I feel like it’s something that we can handle, and it will certainly be a huge mountain to climb. But I think there’s some hope for it. I always feel like the few are very powerful, right? But there’s a certain sense in which the many cannot be denied.
[As] mentioned—I’ve been trying to practice optimism. And I have been feeling more hopeful lately. I think this goes beyond even climate change. There’s a lot of other things to worry about, as well. I was reflecting on the information sources that I’m using to form my opinion about the world and basically, I was not convinced that the information sources that [were] informing my despair were representative of the true state of the world. Because the incentive structure is such for media companies that they keep the lights on because they can hold your attention, not because they can keep you informed, right? Sometimes those two things are in conflict. So I was thinking I might need to recalibrate the conclusions that I was drawing from the information sources. Not to say that the problems we face aren’t serious, right, they’re serious. And now because of the abundant information, we’re more aware of them, probably, than at any point in human history. But I feel like my despair has been replaced with more of a feeling that [while] our problems are serious, and in many ways, existential, we have what it takes. We have incredible people, and we have incredible tools at our disposal. And hopefully, we can give the problems a run for their money, right? I like sports analogies, so it’s like you’re on a championship caliber team, and you’re playing another team in the final, and they surely represent a serious threat, and they could easily beat you. But you’re a great team. And you know, you’re gonna roll with that team, and there’s a chance that you could also emerge victorious.
[For now], I’m very much trying to embrace that sort of growth mindset, [just] embracing the uncertainty and trying to do the best I can with information I currently have, [and] constantly learning. I’m just excited to hear and talk to people who have different perspectives. Please reach out [anyone who] reads this later, you know? I love talking to new people and hearing different perspectives.“
As part of the LSA Year of Sustainability, LSA Dean’s Fellow Cherish Dean sat down with a range of students, staff, and faculty across the University to illustrate the various relationships people across campus already have to this work, to showcase ways people can get involved, and to highlight the reasons that this work should matter.
To view an abbreviated transcript of Cherish’s full conversation with Evan, click here.
If you’d like to reach out to Evan, he can be contacted at epetros@umich.edu.
Cherish can be reached at cherishd@umich.edu. To contact the LSA Year of Sustainability Team as a whole, please contact sustainable-lsa@umich.edu .