Resource and environmental management graduate follows her passion and curiosity into MRM program

Helena Debus celebrates the completion of her undergraduate degree in resource and environmental management this October and is wasting no time before launching into her master’s degree.

Debus grew up in Bonn, Germany and moved to Canada in 2018. In the fall of 2020, she began her first semester studying at SFU and happened to take REM 100 with professor Pascal Haegeli.

That’s when she knew she wanted to major in resource and environmental management.

“I really like the quantitative side to REM,” she says. “Such as environmental modelling, applied ecology, and all forms of data visualization.”

Over the course of her degree, she acquired a technical toolkit, including a newfound proficiency in written communication, which she previously dreaded.

“There was one specific course, REM 202W, and it really helped me develop more confidence in my writing,” she says.

One of her standout experiences was a capstone project where she collaborated on erosion control for the Aga Khan University (AKU) campus in Arusha, Tanzania.

SFU has a partnership with AKU and hosts annual field schools there. Although Debus was unable to attend the field school in Tanzania, she says the project gave her an opportunity to work on a real-world problem with tangible applications and output.

Throughout her undergraduate degree, Debus also contributed to various other initiatives. Last year, she was one of the students leading the transition from the Bachelor of Environment Student Union (BESU) to the Resource and Environmental Management Student Association (REMSA) and an undergraduate representative for the REM Executive Committee.

“It was an amazing experience to volunteer and get to know all the faculty, sit in on board meetings and be part of some big decisions,” she says.

Currently, she is also advocating to increase accessibility to affordable childcare on campus for student parents. As a mother balancing school while raising a young son, she says it’s been a barrier and hopes to promote change for herself and others facing this difficulty.

Debus was already considering pursuing a master’s degree when, in the fall 2023 semester, she approached REM professor Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor in the SFU Ocean Equity Lab to do a directed study. Shortly after getting to know the team, it was clear to her that she wanted to come back after her undergraduate degree.

“They are a really exceptional team, and I just wasn’t finished,” she says. “I wanted to dive a little deeper into independently-led research — something that I felt was missing from my time as an undergrad.”

She has already begun her first paper for her master’s, examining the unequal distribution of ocean resources and contributing underlying factors.

“I enjoy looking at things through a global lens,” she explains. “Exploring diverse issues like these really fills my cup.”

Debus credits her undergraduate degree with fundamentally shaping her values and strengthening her commitment to sustainability and positive change. She is excited to see where her curiosity will lead her next in her academic journey.