I’ve just finished my Master’s Degree in Biology.

I always wanted to be a zookeeper or a biologist, and got my wish. About at the end of undergrad when I was transitioning to the Masters, I got this job at a research facility doing food research and food sustainability; how can we keep our food systems going in the face of climate change? And whilst I was working there, one of the other sites got completely destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Years worth of food research was lost, and that was kind of when it hit me. If we can’t tackle the actual root cause of the climate crisis, then nothing that I love, none of these animals and ecosystems that I truly care about, will last.

That kick started the journey into activism. I started doing things with Restore Passenger Rail, initially, because they were a climate action group, and then that kind of morphed into realizing that if we can’t even treat other humans as human, then how are we going to treat animals in an appropriate way? So my work in activism started to morph into anti-fascist and peace activism, and I guess that’s what drives me, just respect for all living things.

I’ve started writing poetry since I finished my Masters. I used to do a lot of theatre, so I’m hoping to get back into that as soon as I can. It’s communicating, telling stories and reaching out to people and encouraging them to share, I guess, the same empathetic viewpoint that people in my circles have.

For young people, we don’t really have a choice. Regardless of how shit the world’s gonna be, we’re still gonna live in it. We don’t have the luxury of despair, so we have to have hope.”