Jacob McKinley

• What does being a First-Generation College Graduate mean to you?

To me, being a First-Generation College Graduate means that I have been able to have an opportunity that my parents could not, but that they contributed greatly to helping me have. They have put much care and support into providing me a strong foundation and new paths for me that were unavailable to them, and I am forever grateful.

• What is your proudest moment from your time at UCSD?

Achieving my first 4.0 quarter GPA. It was my Fall quarter of my third year, and I was taking some difficult upper division biology classes along with organic chemistry, which was by far the toughest type of course I have taken.

• Who are the family members, friends or loved ones who have been most influential throughout your college journey? Are there any words of gratitude you would like to share with them?

My parents, who have supported me at every step and helped me have this opportunity to begin with; My sister, who has given me much encouragement along the way; Eduardo, who has been my right-hand man and like a brother to me since we met in our dorm my first year at UCSD; All of the friends I have made along this journey, as meeting so many people has been the most enjoyable experience of college and my interactions with them have brought me many laughs, new experiences, new perspectives, and support (I would name each and every one of you if I could!)

• Who are the staff, faculty or mentors who have been most influential throughout your college journey? Are there any words of gratitude you would like to share with them?

Jane Teranes, for her interactive and enlightening courses on climate change and how to address it; Fonna Forman, for her caring engagement and informative teachings on the social science perspectives of climate disruption; Jonathan Shurin, for showing me the interesting aspects of field data collection and lab work; Kaustuv Roy, for his thorough teachings of the complexity and significance of biodiversity and how global change impacts it; Colin Jemmott, for his connection with students and enjoyable data science course that taught me the basics of Python coding; Marko Lubarda, for his intriguing course on Matlab programming that I found very useful and from which I made many friends; Neal Driscoll, for his course on water that became so much more informative on geological processes as a whole; Jen Bowser, Sara McKinstry, and Michelle Perez, along with Quiana Stodder and Nick Colmenares, who I have had the wonderful experience of working with in the Green Labs program as their intern to help make labs on campus more sustainable.

• What do you plan or hope to do after graduating?

In the shorter-term future, I will be staying with my family while I engage in a more thorough and dedicated search for a suitable full-time job. In addition, I will also be assisting in some projects as part of my internship that will continue until the summer's end. On a long-term scale, I hope to find a position that works in understanding and engaging better practices for supporting environmental health, whether this be in a consultation-type position within a company or agency, or as part of a research laboratory.

Campus Affiliations

Campus Involvement

• Member, Sustainability Ambassadors Program (2018-19)

• Intern, UCSD Green Labs