ESP Biography

KELLY DUNN, Sophomore, aspiring educator

Major: Earth Systems/Geological Science

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: 2022

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Kelly Dunn is (among other things) an aerialist, vegan, and watercolorer. Raised in Santa Monica, she grew up going on small hikes by the coast and running along the beach. It wasn’t until she came to Stanford, however, that she began backpacking and camping, fully immersing herself in the natural world.
As a reader, she loved engaging with the works of Thoreau and Abbey, ostensibly learning about “wilderness” in its truest form and wanting to preserve its pristine (ahem ahem) nature. Over time, however, she has gained a more nuanced perspective of this once-clear picture—specifically, how intricate our environment is, dictated by larger systemic issues, and how it is inextricably intertwined with the fates of billions of people. Although she is still very much learning herself, she hopes to eventually enter the fields of environmental education and communication, merging her scientific and personal understanding of this earth with those of the communities around her. She is so grateful for the experiences life has given her and is excited to teach in the coming year!

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

R7354: Dissecting the Anthropocene: Past, Present, and Future in Splash Fall 2019 (Nov. 16 - 17, 2019)

This class is both a lecture and discussion. Class will begin with a brief lecture on the various ways in which we have conceptualized the environment in the past. It will proceed to explain this current era which has been commonly deemed the Anthropocene and, through discussion, explore the utility of such a word in geological, political, and social contexts. This class will also examine the various strains of these coupled human-natural systems and how they are influenced by larger systemic issues. It will conclude with a discussion on what the future of it (and subsequently, of humans and the surrounding world) will be.