现场:Desiree Sturrock ' 25在奥克兰港, 西海岸第四大港口 Photo by Francis Tatem
Room to Breathe: Environmental Research Is Just Part of Desiree Sturrock’s Journey
通过2023年夏季研究计划, Sturrock has been studying the impact of port pollution on nearby communities. For her, the research is also one of many ways SMC allows her to “combine everything and make a place for myself.”
Desiree Sturrock ’25 她在长滩附近的海边的家有很多美好的回忆吗, from perusing vintage shops on Retro Row to attending violin lessons at her teacher’s home near the Cal State campus. Looking back, though—especially now that she’s pursuing a BA in Environmental Studies and is one of Saint Mary’s Sustainability Interns—pollution looms large. “我喜欢长滩，我和它有很多特殊的联系，”斯特罗克说. “但从空气质量的角度来看，这很可悲.”
长滩港是美国第二大港口，年吞吐量超过1000万吨 每年900万个集装箱; as a result, the city has the 全国空气污染最严重. On a summer afternoon, 斯特罗克和我正处在另一个危机的边缘, smaller port on the San Francisco Bay—Oakland International Container Terminal, 大约是长滩港口的四分之一. Sturrock has spent the last few weeks poring over air quality data from both ports. It’s part of her work in the Summer Research Program, through which Saint Mary’s undergrads conduct research alongside a faculty mentor. Specifically, she’s studying how port pollution disproportionately affects impoverished communities of color in Long Beach and Oakland.
这是一个阳光明媚，微风习习的下午，在中海岸线公园. Out across the bay, a line of San Francisco skyscrapers seem to be restraining the oncoming fog. 我们身后是一堆堆的集装箱, and towering above, 全国最高的集装箱起重机, 看起来像一排蒸汽朋克雷龙.
Out on the water itself, more than a dozen cargo ships wait to dock and unload. 斯特罗克解释说，这些船只是一个巨大的污染源. “They're just sitting here like cars stuck in traffic, but on an even larger scale.“大多数货船燃烧的是低成本的船用燃料, high in sulfur and soot—releasing toxic fumes that offshore winds blow inland. That, 加上卡车排放的柴油废气, trains, and other equipment, 造成了数量惊人的臭氧污染.
减少污染的措施正在采取:加州加大了其 “at berth” 规定，要求船舶在停靠时接入陆上电力. 该州还在努力用电动汽车取代柴油动力设备 zero-emission alternatives. 不过，还有很长的路要走. As one recent report revealed, a single day at the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles produces more pollution than that region’s 6 million cars combined.
“学得多，改变世界”
在访问奥克兰港前一周, Sturrock and I meet up at a picnic table in Saint Mary’s Legacy Garden—her favorite place on campus. 现在是七月，所以这里除了我们和蜜蜂没有其他人. 她告诉我:“菜园现在长得很粗糙，但情况还不错。. “有很多草莓、西红柿和西葫芦.” In a few months, she’ll probably find herself trimming the overgrowth; she’s starting up a gardening club in the fall.
It’s the kind of extracurricular experience Sturrock wouldn’t have found time for before arriving at Saint Mary’s. Prior to college, 斯特罗克活着，呼吸着大提琴, 从9年级到12年级就读竞争激烈的艺术学院. “After six hours of classes, I’d have orchestra practice, 也就是每天两到三个小时, every day,” she says. “我有时会在那上面放室内乐，还有大提琴合奏. 然后我会回家，至少练习一个小时.”
临近毕业时，斯特罗克不得不做出选择:她真的 want 成为一名职业大提琴手? 这需要多年的专注. 到她开始访问大学的时候，她已经快精疲力竭了.
最终，她想要的是多样化. “The main thing I was looking for in a college was a small school where I could pursue all of my interests,” she says. 在她高中的最后一年，她找到了 Colleges That Change Lives, 一个开创性的教育指南 describes SMC as “a down-to-earth college [where] students make the connection between learning and life.”
This resonated with Sturrock. As she was growing up, her father had always impressed upon her, “Learn a lot and change the world.圣玛丽听起来像是一个她可以兼而有之的地方. 几个月后，她参观了绿树成荫、安静的校园. 在与音乐系的教职员工会面后，包括 Sixto F. Montesinos Jr., 作为器乐研究的负责人，斯特罗克知道这就是她想要的.
Desiree Sturrock on why she chose Saint Mary's: “The main thing I was looking for in a college was a small school where I could pursue all of my interests.”
Master of Her Fate
Sturrock was drawn to major in Environmental Studies for the same reason she gravitated to Saint Mary’s: 她喜欢户外活动，渴望做好事，求知欲强. 她说:“这与许多学科有关。. “我最喜欢的事情是把所有东西结合起来，为自己创造一个地方.除了专业课程之外，她确实做了很多这样的事情, 担任可持续发展实习生, 创办园艺俱乐部, 斯特罗克辅修英语和音乐, 在跨课程写作中心兼职工作, 并定期参观艺术博物馆. 随着学院新课程的变化, too, she's now exploring the possibility of pursuing a split major between Environmental Studies and Music. “Coming here, 我真的能够把自己投入到比以前更多的事情上,” she says. “It’s been incredible.”
She considers herself a humanities person at heart, a lover of big ideas and big books. 典型的例子:在她的右前臂, she has a tattoo of a gate, 这是她最喜欢的诗里的一句台词, William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus.(如果被问到，她会害羞地背诵全部16行台词.) But after doing some general air pollution research for an Environmental Politics course in Spring 2023, 她想更深入地挖掘数据. 所以她申请了一个暑期研究项目 Joel Burley, a Chemistry professor who has conducted extensive research on ozone levels in California’s national and state parks. 伯利录取了她和另外两名生物专业的学生 Angelina Fleming ’24 and Connor Trebbien ’24, 谁在进行自己的空气污染项目.
“The Summer Research Program provides talented students like Desiree hands-on access and engagement in opportunities they otherwise probably wouldn’t have,” says Professor Joel Burley.
利用公开的空气质量数据, vessel traffic, and wind direction, Sturrock has been mapping the neighborhoods in Oakland and Long Beach that experience the brunt of port pollution. 除了通过碳排放使气候变暖, she notes, the particulate pollution impacts poor communities of color the most—areas that were profoundly shaped by discriminatory redlining and freeway construction. “这些地区的房价总是更便宜，因为它们不太受欢迎.” In port-side West Oakland, 10个居民中有8个是黑人, cancer rates are higher, life expectancy is lower, and there are 88% more asthma hospitalizations than in the rest of the region. In the Latinx, Asian American, 以及长滩港附近的黑人社区, health data paints a similarly grim picture.
Compared to cars, planes, and other major polluters, 货船一直没有得到充分的研究和重视, Sturrock says. 她认识到那里的责任和机会.
Joel Burley has been involving students in his research at Saint Mary’s for going on two decades. “The Summer Research Program provides talented students like Desiree hands-on access and engagement in opportunities they otherwise probably wouldn’t have,” he says. 有时间去探索是非常宝贵的. “You try a lot of stuff, 你会发现你喜欢什么或者你擅长什么, 然后你细化或缩小你的偏好.”
As Sturrock looks toward the future, she’s considering a career in sustainable farming practices. 她已经开始寻找明年夏天的实习机会, 可能与康特拉科斯塔资源保护区合作. She has also picked up the cello again; stop by the Museum of Art and you might find her performing a Bach suite or even an original composition. 她说，现在的压力不像以前那么大了. Now, she can just play to play.
Saint Mary’s has offered Sturrock the space to ask the big questions, she says. “Do I make myself happy? 我爱别人，他们也爱我吗?” At the same time, she’s mindful of the fact that there are those who don’t have the same opportunity for self-discovery, who can’t pluck fresh strawberries from their college garden or breathe unpolluted air.
Making life more liveable for others is what drew her to Environmental Studies in the first place. Her father charged her with “changing the world,” and Sturrock has taken it to heart. “Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to find a way to do something I love and also makes a difference,” she tells me. “这条路似乎是到达那里最可行的方式.”
LEARN MORE about Saint Mary’s School of Science and opportunities through the Summer Research Program.
READ MORE about student Jared Ralleta ’24, who built a tool astronauts can use on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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Hayden Royster is Staff Writer at the Office of Marketing and Communication for Saint Mary's College. Write him.