Scholar Spotlight

Christopher Oates, 2023 STEPS Center Director’s Fellowship Recipient

Q: What attracted you to consider pursuing a graduate degree through the STEPS Center?

A: The interdisciplinary nature of STEPS is what really attracted me to the Center. In undergraduate curriculums, it’s so common to take courses that only incorporate one viewpoint or a singular school of thought into their approach to problem-solving. I feel that in order to make lasting and meaningful change, one must incorporate many different perspectives and disciplines. Many modern problems are multifaceted; they require many different people to work together to find solutions.

Environmental issues have always been important to me, and they have become increasingly important on the current world stage. I am interested in implementing knowledge from various fields across multiple disciplines to create innovative solutions to problems relating to natural resource management that plague today’s societies. STEPS has a similar mission. I think that my interests and background will provide me with a solid foundation to explore STEPS and its different research themes.

I want to use my experiences and passion for learning to research and create solutions that result in a more sustainable and healthier world. I believe that putting yourself into new situations and environments is the best way to discover something new; STEPS is the perfect place to facilitate this discovery process.