Sam is from Brooklyn, NY and a senior at Park East High School in Manhattan. He got started working on environmental issues during his sophomore year of high school when he began participating in his school’s Environmental Club, but he was not really that committed to environmental work until later in that same year when ACE came and did an assembly presentation on climate change and its impacts in NYC and other parts of the world. After the ACE Assembly he was inspired to look more into the effects of climate change and what he could do to reduce the impacts.

Everyday people are forced out of their homes due to changing conditions on their land, whether it be from poor air quality to droughts or floods. Although Sam feels he has not been affected by climate change directly in big ways yet, it is still important to him to do his part in reducing the effects of climate change to the point where it no longer exists. Some of the highlights of Sam’s work to fight climate change so far have been: greening national parks as part of The Student Conservation Association (SCA), raising awareness about the impacts of climate change, and working to get others involved in their community. When Sam has some free time, he enjoys hiking, graphic design, and volunteering in national parks and for theatre-based projects.