Physical geography graduate tackles challenges in local communities, reflects on finding the right major

For graduating student Isabel Nelson, university is not only about personal success, but also an important part of achieving her goals of creating positive change in the world.

Over the course of her degree, the new physical geography alumnus combined her love of science and the environment to make a difference in her community.

In 2020, she and her best friend founded a program called Young Minds Exploring Science (YMES) so that youths in grades 6 and 7 could attend extra-curriculars in science during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With guidance from a former teacher, the two developed lesson plans and secured funding from an SFU Student Community Engagement Award and from UBC to keep the program free. They ran two cohorts, one in Delta and one for newcomers to Canada in partnership with the Surrey School District’s Welcome Centre.

“While we had to host all of our sessions virtually, it was still a rewarding experience to provide students with extra-curricular activities they would not have received otherwise,” Nelson says. 

When she first started studying at SFU, Nelson was enrolled as a physics major. She felt from early on that the program was not the right fit but convinced herself to stay the course.

“As a young woman in STEM, I felt the need to prove myself and stick to the program that I told all of my peers I would pursue,” she explains.

She found her true passion while taking a course on earth systems with geography professor Andrew Perkins, which helped her realize how she could apply the traditional sciences to solve environmental problems, and officially declared her major in physical geography in her third year.

“While I wouldn't change a thing, I would tell my 18-year-old self that it is okay to change your mind, and that it’s okay to be unsure about what you want to do with your life,” she shares. “If I had allowed myself this flexibility, I would have found my passion for geography much sooner.” 

Particularly interested in studying the impacts of climate change on cities, Nelson chose the geosystems and geographic information science (GIS) stream within her major and took courses that allowed her to explore the topic in depth.

In a GIS class, she completed a project using 3D modeling to simulate a pedestrian tsunami evacuation in Port Alberni.

“As a pedestrian myself, and someone with a 97-year-old grandmother, I wanted to see if the outcomes of this evacuation were different for pedestrians of varying mobilities,” she explains.

Using academic literature on walking speeds, Nelson’s simulation shows that people with impaired mobility likely would not be able to evacuate her test location within a twenty-minute period, which she says should “come as a reminder to incorporate pedestrians and people of differing mobilities into emergency planning.”

While Nelson may have completed her undergraduate degree, she still has more she wants to do at SFU. This summer, she is working in the Palen Lab in SFU’s Department of Biological Sciences on a research team investigating effects of renewable energy infrastructure on biodiversity and the environment. Then, after taking some time for rest and travel, she plans to pursue a master’s degree.