I could hear the volcano rumbling. I could smell the sulfur, and it was warm all of a sudden. It was such a stunning thing to see, powerful and otherworldly.
A year ago, Alexandra Olson (PWS ’24) went on a study abroad that she will never forget. Traveling from London to Iceland to Norway, ecosystems were revealed that she had never seen firsthand. The goal was to show students patterns in nature so they could better understand creation.
“In Norway, it was so rainy we were never dry,” Olson remembers. “But we would swim out into the fjord, and it was such a tactile experience. You could taste the water as you were going, and it would go from freshwater to saltwater. We swam even in the rain. I just loved how that felt.”
Olson swapped the cold for warmth in Iceland. The class drove out to see an erupting volcano, but they got separated from each other on the hike. As she moved forward, a little ways behind her classmates, Olson passed a volcano that had been active in 2022. Surrounded by cooled lava fields, she had only the smallest inkling of what she would see next; “I came up on this big saddle, and I could hear the volcano rumbling. I could smell the sulfur, and it was warm all of a sudden.” She emerged on the other side and found the volcano shooting lava into the air. “It was such a stunning thing to see, powerful and otherworldly,” she says in awe.
The students sat a mile away and just watched for several hours. They walked away with a little more reverence for the earth.
Celebrating Nature’s Network
“The more I’ve learned, whether in my religion or environmental sciences classes,” Olson confirms, “the more I see how intertwined we all are. We share this planet with creatures and people on the other side of the globe that we never see. We are all part of this divine family. Each creature, each tree has a divine potential, just like I do. Learning about these connections has really given me more respect for our Heavenly Parents’ creations. I feel very lucky that I get to share this world with so many beautiful things.”
We are all part of this divine family. Each creature, each tree has a divine potential, just like I do.
Although Olson’s passion for the planet developed in high school, BYU showed her the depth of the concepts she held close to her heart. For instance, Dr. Ben Abbott’s class, PWS 180: Climate Change—Science & Solutions, dove past the basics and into the science behind things like albedo, reflection, and carbon budgets. Olson not only understood the complexity of this issue better, but she also came out of the class feeling empowered to influence the future.
Her first step was looking within her own sphere to see what she could change. After noticing that none of her apartment complexes provided recycling services, Olson gathered recycling in her apartment and regularly took trips to Kiwanis Park to dispose of them properly. She didn’t expect her sister or her boyfriend to follow her example and start their own recycling boxes, or that their roommates would start contributing as well. “I never thought that my own home recycling service would influence what choices people were making,” Olson confides. Recycling, a small habit that she sometimes finds inconvenient, is worth the effort for her because she gets to positively contribute to her own specific ecosystem.
Olson is dedicated to strengthening humanity’s connection with the natural world by educating them on environmental issues like climate change, or just encouraging them to go outside and interact with nature. “There’s people and places in my backyard and around the world that need help,” she affirms. “I plan on helping them.”
There’s people and places in my backyard and around the world that need help. I plan on helping them.
Take Control of Your Personal BYU Experience
The best direction Olson has found to channel her passion has been in Dr. Neil Hansen’s research lab. Together, they focus on farm, residential, and turf grass water conservation that maximizes local crop yield while reducing community water consumption, succinctly summarized with the term “crop per drop.” Olson’s skills lie in sensor installation, which looks like drilling out a narrow three-foot hole and putting her arm down it in order to place the sensor. She also helps maintain the boxes that collect the sensor data, and even compiled her own data on how grazing impacts Great Basin soils. “I really am just a girl who likes to dig holes,” she chuckles.
Looking back on her time at BYU, Olson’s only regret is not doing more for the lab. She advises students to “say yes to opportunities, like research labs or study abroad programs; just go for it, even if you don't feel super confident about it. Go for it, and you might find out that you're more qualified than you think, or you'll learn how to do it.” In her opinion, students should stay true to themselves and allow their passion and authenticity to guide them to professors who match their interests. Students shouldn’t settle for researching something they feel indifferent about.
Say yes to opportunities, like research labs or study abroad programs; just go for it!
Authenticity is also the key, according to Olson, to finding the people who celebrate you for who you are. “There’s a million ways to feel like you don’t fit in,” she admits. “Just trust yourself. There’s a lot of good people here, and you can find those people. It might be really hard at first, but there’s a lot of love to go around.”
As she finishes up her last week, Olson will spend some time at her favorite place in Provo, walking on the little red brick path south of campus. “There’s so many things I’ve noticed and learned just walking on that path,” she reflects. “There's so much beauty in the natural world, and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of it, and also see it with the context that I have, of Heavenly Parents who are so invested in all of our growth, whether it's the growth of a tree or my personal growth. I’m really grateful that They're a part of it.”