My interest in nonproliferation and disarmament began my junior year of high school when I applied to be one of two representatives from my school to attend the Critical Issues Forum (CIF). My school, Choate Rosemary Hall, participates in CIF every year, and some of my role models in the grades above had attended in the years before me, so I ecstatically applied my junior year of high school in 2016. At the same time, I was in an environmental immersion program at my school, so while I studied nonproliferation in my free time, my schoolwork focused on subjects such as ecology, environmental ethics, and environmental policy – all interests which would combine to inform my work in nonproliferation in the future.
Participating in CIF was an invaluable experience, especially as it enabled me to meet and talk to other young people that were just as passionate about nonproliferation and disarmament, and more largely, about crafting a safe, inclusive world, as I was. I made lifelong friends from all over the United States, as well as Japan and Russia. Hearing other students speak about their ideas for a world free of nuclear weapons was refreshing, inspiring, and most importantly, made me feel that I would never be alone in this work. At the end of the forum in 2016, I had the honor to be designated as a Youth Communicator for a World Without Nuclear Weapons by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the months following CIF, I continued to keep up to date with nuclear issues and later received an invitation to participate in a youth forumon disarmament in Nagasaki, Japan, along with several other CIF alumni who I had met the previous year. Reconnecting with other CIF alumni, and also meeting even more young people passionate about disarmament issues was extremely rewarding. The most influential moment during my short time in Japan was hearing the story of a Hibakusha, an atomic bombing survivor. In the years to come, I would continually reflect upon the words of the Hibakusha, with the knowledge and understanding of the human and cultural costs to nuclear weapons.
For the next couple of years, nonproliferation became more of a side interest as I spent more time investing in environmental and social justice issues, attending Middlebury College, and studying environmental justice and computer science. Although my primary academic focus was environmental justice, I always kept disarmament and nonproliferation in the back of my mind, and the summer before my junior year, I had the opportunity to combine my passions for environmental justice and nonproliferation together at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies’ (CNS) undergraduate internship program in Monterey, California. I was once again able to connect with young people passionate about nonproliferation, while simultaneously researching the injustices of nuclear testing in Algeria, Kazakhstan and the Marshall Islands. I particularly hit it off with two of my fellow interns, Grace Kier and Sam Barnes. All three of us were noticing the amazing young women working at CNS and all the important work they were doing, but weren’t seeing the same kind of representation higher up in the field, so we started a podcast, Big Nuke Energy, to discuss women working in nonproliferation. Now, a year and a half later, we have produced 38 episodes, interviewing a different incredible woman working in non-proliferation in each episode. We also cover current nonproliferation events in our “toes in the heavy water” section, and tips for smashing the patriarchy in our proliferation patriarchy section. It has been so incredible to hear people passionately talk about their work. Although we are currently putting the podcast on hiatus in order to pursue other interests, Big Nuke Energy, will continue to be a platform for young women working in disarmament issues.
Continuing my involvement in nonproliferation, my senior thesis at Middlebury College focuses on the effects of nuclear testing, specifically US nuclear testing on indigenous lands in Nevada and the Marshall Islands, and its implications for social justice and strategies for subverting hegemonic power systems. In the future, I hope to continue to be involved in nonproliferation as it aligns with my larger goals to use emerging software and geographic information system technologies to work towards social justice-oriented goals and a more equitable world. The podcast and my work in nonproliferation has taught me how creative young people are in engaging people of all communities, from organizations that support women in nonproliferation such as Girl Security, to twitter meme accounts that focus on nuclear issues. Although we face many challenges, from nuclear proliferation and disarmament to global climate change, the future is bright, and full of many inspiring, creative young minds.