Isabela Valencia ’21

Isabela is a senior pursuing a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Economics with a focus on climate change and agriculture.

Her thesis evaluates and compares the effects of climate change on the banana, quinoa, tea, and wine industries. Isabela spent the summer of 2020 as an Orbitas Summer Fellow at Climate Advisers researching soft commodity supply chains and deforestation in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Before that, she interviewed rural fishing and farming villagers in the Philippines and learned organic farming techniques in Japan alongside rural grassroots leaders from Southeast Asia and Africa. She spent her junior year abroad at the University of Oxford, where she worked on development and environmental sustainability consulting projects. On campus, Isabela is the UK Peer Advisor for the Office of International Study, the student outreach lead for the Botanic Gardens, and the Communications Manager for the Oxford Climate Alumni Network. She has command of Filipino, French, and Portuguese and wants to work for an international organization building the climate resiliency of rural communities in Southeast Asia and Brazil after graduating.