Sarah Calzada — a recent College of Social Sciences and Public Policy alumna — landed her first job postgraduate job as an engineering technician with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The role allows Calzada to explore Florida and help find ways to care for its environment and natural resources, something she cares about deeply.
She graduated from Florida State in Fall of 2022 with a B.S. in Geography and minors in Statistics and Environment and Society. Being a first-generation college student, Calzada came to FSU because of the supportive community.
“I found a community within the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE),” Calzada said. “As a first-generation college student, navigating college would’ve been difficult, but within CARE I found life-long friendships and financial support I wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere.”
Her experiences in Tallahassee helped stoke her passion for nature and ultimately landed her a job protecting it. Along with her degree, she also earned two certificates: the Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC) and the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Certificate.
“Gaining the GCC and SAS certificates is a milestone in my professional and academic development,” Calzada said. “Completing the SAS certificate has added to my geography degree by giving me the coding knowledge used in some areas of my field.”
But it was the experiences FSU gave her outside of Tallahassee that proved to be the most impactful on her journey. Thanks to university programs like Global Scholars and Global Peace Exchange (GPE), she got to make a difference locally, nationally, and internationally, as she had the chance to work on numerous sustainability projects over the last several years.
A volunteer trip through GPE to southern Brazil to work on rainforest restoration with the Iracambi Research Center in 2019 ignited her passion for conservation. Then a trip back to her hometown of New Orleans, LA, with FSU’s 2021 Global Scholar cohort to work on coastal restoration became the catalyst for her new career.
“The experience couldn’t have been complete without Global Scholars and the training I received through AmeriCorps,” she said. “Partnering with Common Ground Relief kindled my passion for environmental preservation and advocacy and solidified my environmental conservation career path.”
Through her university Sustainability Fellowship, Calzada also worked with the Apalachee Audubon Society, Lubee Bat Conservancy, and the City of Tallahassee to build a 400-capacity bat house at Lake Elberta Park.
When asked what advice she would share with current students, Calzada said, “Use your resources. Everybody at Florida State University wants you to succeed. If you need something, ask!”
To learn more about FSU’s geography program, visit coss.fsu.edu/geography.