MERYL SLAY

UCLA Marine Biology

major GPA: 3.9

The night Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York City, I swayed 27 floors above the flooded streets of the Financial District.

I am a professional artist and former business owner. I am proud I was able to build a successful company, in one of the most populous, expensive cities in the world, in a trade and technology that I taught myself.

My experience with hurricane Sandy was a pivotal turning point in my life because I was one of many lower Manhattan residents who was stuck between a sideways blizzard in the sky and a tropical storm surge flooding the streets. In one night, I was shown that climate change is an “all hands on deck” reality. As a result, I dissolved my business, enrolled in school and have committed the rest of my life to solving environmental problems.

I am particularly passionate about safeguarding marine ecosystem health and connectivity through the conservation of marine apex predators, as well as broadly preserving biodiversity in California. My greatest interest is to examine populations at risk of functional extinction, or ecological collapse using interdisciplinary policy scholarship, public involvement and advocacy.