Environmental scientist explains her path to researching penguins and seals in Antarctica. By Lila Reynolds
When Parker Levinson ’18 graduated from Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences with degrees in environmental science and African studies, she wasn’t sure where to go next. There were no career fairs aimed at her specific majors. Instead, Levinson consulted a handful of supportive professors and an online job board for field research positions.
After applying to a few jobs, Levinson faced a crossroads: Take a traditional office job in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, with a salary and benefits or accept a five-month unpaid field research opportunity in a jungle on an island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, in central Africa. As her friends signed contracts for consulting gigs and heard back from med schools, Levinson followed her instincts and set out for the jungle, where she collected data on leatherback
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