Meet Grace Cajski ’24!
Grace’s research is a capstone of her undergraduate academic career, which has been dedicated to understanding how storytelling can be a powerful conservation tool. As a New Orleanian, Grace has seen how environmental degradation has obligated coastal communities to be conservationists, although they were once stewards of abundance. Grace seeks to be part of a movement to create a better world, where coastal communities can harvest sustainably and healthily from the sea, as is their right. Coastal communities deserve to reclaim and retain food sovereignty, food security, and economic self-sufficiency through ocean resources. To advocate for this, as a 2023 Global Food Fellow, Grace worked with community organizations on Hawai’i Island to tell stories about anchialine pools, ranging from ArcGIS Story Maps to magazine feature pieces. Through science communication, Grace hopes to foster empathy, stoke hope, and celebrate community.

Grace is a proud YSFPer, starting her food journey in the summer of 2021 as a Global Food Fellow, and has written newsletters, given presentations, and organized events for the Yale Farm.