Emily Schmitt

What is your major? Chemistry with a certificate in sustainability

Expected graduation: May 2024

What inspired your interest in the environment and/or community? Growing up, I always liked logic, math, and baking, and to me, chemistry has always felt like a combination of all three.

Once coming to UW Madison and working toward my chemistry degree, I began to learn more about commonplace small-scale and industrial-level chemical processes that actively harm humans and the surrounding environment. Processes that introduce “forever chemicals,” help fuel mass consumerism, and create environmental injustice through toxic waste and health hazards, environmental degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions. The further I got into my sustainability certificate, the more I became interested in water: access to clean water, global water systems, and the health of our aquatic ecosystems and the chemical processes that have an impact on them.

By focusing on my local community and its surrounding water (or lack thereof), I can tackle issues of science, sustainability, and justice all at once while still (hopefully) causing useful change. By working with fellow scientists and community members, I hope to be a part of something bigger that slows our impact on the environment, especially our water systems, before we cause further irreparable damage.

What would you say to other students about CESP and the Nelson Institute? I would say to join if you have any interest in sustainability, community, or the environment: you don’t need to be an environmental studies major to be in CESP. CESP has taught me a lot about the diversity in the ways that people can interact with the environment and their community. It has also taught me about the need for diversity in the environment: who studies it, who enjoys it, who feels connected to it, and how we think about it. CESP helped me develop a concrete idea of what I want to do after I graduate and acted as an information hub for all the various environmental- or community-focused events going on around campus. You’ll meet some really cool people and learn some really cool things here!

Something few people know about you: If I could, I’d go back and add a scientific glass major. No idea if I’d be particularly good at it, but what they do is so cool! The Glass Shop in the chemistry department does some really crazy, unique custom glassware for researchers.

Anything else? I am currently studying PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), cancer-causing forever chemicals prevalent in our water, soil, and air, through the Water Science Engineering Laboratory here on campus. I started this previous summer 2023 and it’s pretty neat!