Tupelo’s gap year took her to Aotearoa this year to work on climate justice issues. Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.
When Tupelo H decided to take a gap year after high school, she knew she wanted to dedicate her time to climate justice. She spent three months in Aotearoa (New Zealand) with conservation volunteers and a youth climate voting campaign before starting her training for Project Inside Out. Tupelo was drawn to climate advocacy through her emotional connection to the environment, galvanized by the 2020 lockdown. In the face of the fear and grief of that time, she came to understand the impact of climate change and committed to taking action. Now, climate advocacy continues to draw her in through her pursuit of creating a sustainable, just, and compassionate world.
This fall, Tupelo interned with our Resilience team as the Resilience and Education Intern. She helped volunteers handle the challenges of climate advocacy, prevent burnout, and foster joy and connection in their work. Her role included helping to bring resilience into the wider CCL community by posting in forums, creating tabling resources,updating the resilience hub and trainings, and so much more. She even edited a couple of videos to help educate volunteers on the steps to build resilience and become a resilient climateer! She has learned a lot about what resilience means and how to build it, and hopes to use that knowledge to help others in the climate movement. Young people in particular, she says, are burnt out and overwhelmed by the problems of our time. Tupelo hopes that by helping them feel validated, supported, and equipped to handle these challenges, they will build resilience and feel empowered to continue taking action.
Tupelo is back in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida with her two cats and chickens. To unwind, she loves taking pictures of organisms for iNaturalist and listening to podcasts. She also enjoys British Comedy Shows like Taskmaster. Her favorite music artist is AURORA, a Norwegian electropop artist. We were delighted to work with Tupelo this semester and cannot wait to see the world that her resilient, empathetic leadership will create!