Dana Al Hosani

Years ago, a university graduate pursuing a career in environmental science might have been inspired by saving manatees from boat strikes or sea turtles from extinction. Today, it’s the planet they’re protecting. “Climate change is probably not the first thing that [older generations] think about” when they wake up in the morning, says Dana Al Hosani, Class of 2018. “My generation is constantly thinking about it.”

As a student, Al Hosani studied the psychology of environmentalism. What she learned was that “people don’t choose to be unsustainable because they want to be, but because it’s often not easy to go green.”

Drawing on those insights, she now helps undergraduates improve the sustainability of events on the NYUAD campus. Working in the Office of Student Life, she created a sustainability checklist for student activities “to make the convenient option the sustainable one.”