My time as a student
I got involved with uni life from the day I started university. I joined as many clubs as I could during orientation week. I started uni with a mindset that I wanted to do more than just study from 9-5 and contribute to our campus life and the wider community. In my final year, I was the Guild’s Environment Officer and the President for UWA French Club. As the Environment Officer, I ran events and initiatives to promote sustainability on campus – from running EnviroFest to make your own keepcup events. My time at UWA was amazing as I had the opportunity to give back to students through something that I love.
Working at the United Nations Environment Programme
Straight after finishing my last exam in Environmental Science, I packed my bags and moved to Geneva, Switzerland to start working at the United Nations Environment Programme. During my time in Switzerland, I worked on promoting the importance of the sound management of chemicals and waste and worked on many projects related to climate change, biodiversity and pollution.
Creating a sustainable tomorrow
My passion is to mainstream sustainable practices and technologies into our everyday lives to avoid creating a future defined by climate chaos.
Mainstreaming sustainable practices
The most interesting aspect of my career has been understanding how there are many cross cutting interlinkages with climate change and pollution and numerous dimensions to take into account for different environmental agendas. From this, I would like to continue working on multisector and multi stakeholder engagements to strengthen the climate change agenda and promote the importance of mainstreaming sustainable practices.
Words of Wisdom for new students
Get as involved with campus life as possible! The Guild has one of the best campus cultures in Australia with over 180+ clubs so make sure to see what each club and society has to offer! My university experience would not have been as amazing without getting involved with UWA’s campus life!
Basundhara is an Environmental Science graduate (‘19) working under the Secretariat of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) for the sound management of chemicals and waste at the United Nations Environment Programme. Her goal is to help create a future not defined by climate chaos, via promotion of accessible sustainable management technologies and is always working with her passion of a ‘sustainable future’ in mind. Whilst studying at UWA, Basundhara was the Guild's Environment Officer and supported Campus Management in sustainability related initiatives.