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Humans of Duke Sanford

For me, public policy is really about meaningfully engaging communities, in topics or issues that are most relevant to them and doing the most good for the most people. My area of specialty is the #environment, environmental justice -- how laws and policy go about protecting and advocating for people -- their way of life (oftentimes legacy), and sense of place. Think about people who have been on one piece of land for generations - how we can go about protecting them and their rights as people no matter what societal norms or systemic issues may be hindering those sort of inherent rights. The environment is just, it's just part of my life. It's what I have decided to dedicate my life to -- a series of connections to nature as a child really solidified in me a desire to protect the planet. Originally, I thought I wanted to come to Duke and do ecology. I wanted to study natural resources, I wanted to study natural creatures and ecosystems, because I was fascinated by those things. And because I loved them so deeply, they were just a part of me. But then I realized that might not be the greatest way to have an impact. So I ended up switching to environmental journalism, because I thought, Oh, if I'm educating people, if I'm communicating issues to people, then that will be the best way to get people engaged, to get people to realize both their inherent connection to nature – and perhaps protect it for that inherent connection – but also just to let people know about the issues in their area. And as I was doing environmental journalism work it really came through how often policy in every aspect of the journalism. I was reporting so often on policy --- I had to dive deeply into municipal policy, municipal structures, as well as national structures. And I was realizing, hmm, maybe the people who are working in public policy, the people who are actually making things happen for the environmental justice communities, for the planet, are the people who are informing the way that communities are able to best access these resources and are best able to interact with each other. Are best able to thrive. – Cameron Oglesby ENV’21, MPP ‘23 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP

For me, public policy is really about meaningfully engaging communities, in topics or issues that are most relevant to them and doing the most good for the most people.

My area of specialty is the #environment, environmental justice — how laws and policy go about protecting and advocating for people — their way of life (oftentimes legacy), and sense of place. Think about people who have been on one piece of land for generations – how we can go about protecting them and their rights as people no matter what societal norms or systemic issues may be hindering those sort of inherent rights.

The environment is just, it’s just part of my life. It’s what I have decided to dedicate my life to — a series of connections to nature as a child really solidified in me a desire to protect the planet. Originally, I thought I wanted to come to Duke and do ecology. I wanted to study natural resources, I wanted to study natural creatures and ecosystems, because I was fascinated by those things. And because I loved them so deeply, they were just a part of me. But then I realized that might not be the greatest way to have an impact.

So I ended up switching to environmental journalism, because I thought, Oh, if I’m educating people, if I’m communicating issues to people, then that will be the best way to get people engaged, to get people to realize both their inherent connection to nature – and perhaps protect it for that inherent connection – but also just to let people know about the issues in their area.

And as I was doing environmental journalism work it really came through how often policy in every aspect of the journalism. I was reporting so often on policy — I had to dive deeply into municipal policy, municipal structures, as well as national structures. And I was realizing, hmm, maybe the people who are working in public policy, the people who are actually making things happen for the environmental justice communities, for the planet, are the people who are informing the way that communities are able to best access these resources and are best able to interact with each other. Are best able to thrive. – Cameron Oglesby ENV’21, MPP ‘23 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP

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