Future Forward

Strengthened by childhood camping trips and backpacking adventures, Chase Brewster’s ’11 undeniable connection to nature inspired his career in environmental science.

Chase followed his passion at Northwestern University, where he majored in environmental science and minored in physical anthropology. During summer breaks, Chase immersed himself in conservation work, joining the U.S. Forest Service in Utah and working in Wyoming with a small conservation advocacy nonprofit.

After earning his undergraduate degree, Chase moved to San Francisco to work at Planet Labs, an aerospace startup specializing in nanosatellite Earth imaging, where he spent three years. During his time there, he implemented an emissions reduction program to further the company’s journey toward carbon neutrality. 

Eager to grow his expertise, Chase pursued a master’s degree at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. He specialized in coastal and marine resource science and completed an additional degree with a focus on environmental data science and science communications. 

During his graduate studies, Chase spent a summer in American Samoa. He lived in a traditional village of just 60 people on a one-mile-long island in the South Pacific Ocean. While there, he conducted coral reef surveys, collecting vital data on coral health, disease, and algae outbreaks. He got to know the small island community deeply and helped restore an environment that is so precious and impactful for them.

“You get to see the tangible benefits right away. There are so many different opportunities in environmental science and so many different scales to work on, so I think it is really special to
see the sort of localized community impacts,” Chase explained. 

Chase is now a Project Scientist at UCSB’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory. His largest project is the Clean Currents Coalition, which has taken him to Kingston, Jamaica and Nairobi, Kenya. This global coalition of local nonprofits and community leaders uses river technology to capture plastic before it reaches the ocean and shares collected data to support local policy change.

“I always loved to read and write in my journal like Amelia in the ‘Amelia’s Notebook’ series,” said Kassy Lee ’08 about the roots of her writing journey. Now an accomplished poet and writing instructor, Kassy transitioned her early interests into a successful career. “I love poetry,” she explained. “Its ability to draw the reader and writer closer together, both leaving slightly transformed by the encounter.”

“When I started Upper School at Parker, my Grade 9 English teacher Ms. Virginia Robinson had recently published a book of poems, which helped me see poetry as a real thing that living people write,” she explained. Similarly, she found Mr. Jared D’Onofrio an uplifting and supportive teacher. “Sometime during Mr. D’Onofrio’s Creative Writing elective, I made a vow to myself…to pursue writing.” 

Post-Parker, Kassy attended Columbia University, where she studied Comparative Literature & Society before moving to the University of Michigan for her Master’s of Fine Arts in Poetry. She received fellowships from several institutions, including the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Vashon Artist Residency for her writing. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including The Massachusetts Review, African American Review, and the Columbia Review. 

When asked about her creativity, Kassy said, “The annoying but true answer is that I find inspiration everywhere: nature, history, science, art, philosophy, faith.” The piece she’s most proud of is a poem titled “THESAURUS dot COM,” which was visualized by the director Michelle Cheripka for the Visual Poetry Project. “It was awesome to collaborate,” she explained. “Poetry is usually a solitary affair.” The powerful project features a video with a narration of Kassy’s poem. “It is an ongoing inquiry of my work to question the relationship between art and politics, and I feel like this poem wades in that water."

One of the biggest highlights of Kassy’s career happened during her four years in China. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith traveled to Beijing during that time to translate the work of poet Yi Lei, and Kassy had the opportunity to read poetry with Tracy during the trip.

As she worked on poetry, Kassy also began instructing and mentoring students. From teaching social studies and being a college counselor in Guatemala, to working as an arts educator mentor in Beijing, China, to her current position as lecturer at UC San Diego, Kassy has inspired many young minds. She loves feeling like she is learning alongside her students and “building relationships with [them], seeing their growth, guiding them to believe in themselves and their strengths, discussing great literature, and questioning our worldviews.” 

Whether in the classroom or on the page, Kassy approaches language as both a craft and a conversation that invites connection and reflection. 

She is currently working on her debut poetry collection.

Learn more by visiting
kassylee.com.