Hometown
Jackson, MS
Focus at YSE
People, equity, and environment; policy
Spotlight
Sustaining People and the Environment
From the age of five, Te’Yah Wright MEM ’23 saw herself as a veterinarian. But, when she declared a pre-vet major her first year in college, she found she “wasn’t really connecting to the material” in the way she had hoped. So, she went to Costa Rica on a six-week study abroad program. She witnessed the country’s approaches to tropical agro-ecology and sustainability. She toured the Monteverde cloud forest and learned how the effects of environmental degradation are amplified in poorer communities. “That trip really changed my life,” she says.
“I switched my major while still in Costa Rica.” Upon returning to Alcorn State University, Wright began to focus on environmental science. Her adviser told her about the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program.
For Wright, one of the greatest benefits of Doris Duke was the diversity of its participants. She noted that her undergraduate milieu was relatively homogenous, given Alcorn is a historically Black college. Doris Duke scholars, on the other hand, come from a rich set of backgrounds and experiences. Also of value were the program’s academic and professional development workshops, which covered the gamut from how to structure research projects and papers to building effective LinkedIn profiles and managing job interviews.
But above all else, Wright was grateful for the connections she made with other Doris Duke scholars. “One of the biggest things was that, even though we had these different backgrounds, we all came in with the idea that we want to make a difference in the world,” she says. That unity of motivation changed her life. “I don’t think I would be where I am today without them — without Dr. Taylor, the program staff, and everyone in my cohort.”
At YSE, Wright hopes to study policymaking and go into international development work after graduation. Her goal is a job in the public sector — whether at the local, state, or federal level. “I just want to be working on policies that not only sustain the environment, but the people as a whole,” she says.
