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Hobbies and interests
Ice Skating
Hiking And Backpacking
Coffee
Reading
Reading
Environment
Law
Historical
Science
I read books multiple times per week
Matt Ellis-Ramirez
705
Bold Points1x
Nominee1x
Finalist![user profile avatar](https://static.bold.org/profilePictures/tempimagef7crjf38ea610f557d469f87d34f0b1ae5e1fc.webp)
Matt Ellis-Ramirez
705
Bold Points1x
Nominee1x
FinalistBio
I'm Matt! (He/They) I'm an undergraduate social-ecological scientist studying the intersectional relationships between our legal system, communities, and the world around us through interdisciplinary research.
Education
University of Miami
Bachelor's degree programMajors:
- Law
- Marine Sciences
- Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy
Minors:
- Law
Triton College
Associate's degree programMajors:
- Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
Miscellaneous
Desired degree level:
Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)
Graduate schools of interest:
Transfer schools of interest:
Majors of interest:
Career
Dream career field:
Environmental Law
Dream career goals:
Lead A Costal Community Lawering Clinc
Storytelling and Community Coordinator
Sunrise Movement2019 – 20212 years
Research
Climate Science
Office of Civic and Community Engament — VISTA Summer Associate2022 – 2022Geography and Environmental Studies
U-Lab for Intergrative Knowledge — Program Coordinator2022 – 2022Marine Sciences
Shark Research & Conservation Program — Research Intern2022 – Present
Arts
Xavier Cortada Foundation
Socially Engaged Art2022 – 2022
Public services
Advocacy
Northwestern Civic Education Program — Speaker2019 – 2022
Future Interests
Advocacy
Politics
Volunteering
Solgaard Scholars: Access Oceanic Studies for LGBTQ+ Students
I grew up in Guatemala, where the summers I splashed on the beaches of Monterrico were the drop that rippled my curiosity about the ocean. In those moments, I investigated every inch of the beach. I was a crouching shadowy figure with a camera to the peaking eyes of the crabs, fish, and insects across the dusty charcoal coast. While studying at the University of Miami, this same curiosity takes me across South Florida, where I currently research sharks, climate gentrification, and local literacy around water quality issues in Biscayne Bay. However, as a first-generation Queer student, my studies are not isolated from action.
Connecting my scientific brain with my heart for community building has allowed me to join interdisciplinary teams of experts from various fields throughout my studies. Last spring, I served as the coordinator of The Underwater, a socially engaged art project directed by Miami-Dade's county artist, Xavier Cortada. This project had a dual purpose, first, to empower Miami Senior High students in Little Havana with the opportunity to understand the elevation of their homes and the impacts of sea level rise on a city built on spongy limestone. Secondly, to study and understand the role of art in young people's motivation to be vocal about climate issues. This project was part of the University of Miami's Lab for Integrative Knowledge (U-LINK). The lab brought together the voices of a lawyer, an economist, an IPCC climate scientist, and an artist, all of whom coached me in crafting an interdisciplinary curriculum. This process brought me into Florida Public School classrooms just days after the Don't Say Gay Bill passed in the Florida Senate. My chest felt heavier than the 30-pound stack of supplies on my first day as I prepared for my Queerness and scientific lesson plan to be politized. Over that initial week, my anxiety subsided as these students each brought an openness about their own experiences and passions as we crafted personal theories of change.
Teaching at Miami senior high taught me that my love for the ocean and my Queerness would become further inextricably connected in a warming world. My community, Miami, is the U.S. city with the highest HIV rate and susceptibility to sea level rise. With LGBTQ+ people making up the majority of youth facing homelessness, science must tackle these issues simultaneously. Therefore, I know that as a Queer interdisciplinary social-ecological systems student, my studies, work, and aspirations dedicated to halting the climate crisis are acts of liberation. Receiving this scholarship would empower me to continue my studies and allow me to give focus to often unpaid grassroots advocacy I am dedicated to tether with my ecological research. This investment would mean joining me in the lifetime commitment to addressing the intersectional challenge of the climate crisis through interdisciplinary ecosystems science that started on a black-sanded beach in Guatemala.