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From stage to lab: 911吃瓜 dancer fulfills scientific passion with degree in environmental science
When the pandemic derailed Larissa Read鈥檚 plans to teach dance at the end of her first degree, an unfulfilled passion for science was waiting for the new alumnus.
Read, who grew up dancing, was accepted into 911吃瓜鈥檚 dance program after high school before she鈥檇 even applied for university.
However, as much as she loved dance and didn鈥檛 want to quit, she also had always loved animals, the outdoors and learning about biology.
鈥淚 had an epiphany one day listening to my boyfriend鈥檚 dad, who is a pilot, talk about the way weather works in the atmosphere. From that moment I finally knew the direction I wanted to take and what I could see myself doing as a career,鈥� she remembers.
That鈥檚 how, after completing her bachelor of fine arts in dance, Read came to make the difficult decision to pursue a second degree鈥攖his time in environmental science.
Signing up for more schooling wasn鈥檛 the easiest path, but Read says she was surprised by her own resiliency after finding a field she felt connected to.
The fact that she enjoyed studying the material helped her persevere and stay committed knowing that it would eventually lead to career 鈥渢hat I could be passionate about for a long time,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he more I learned, the more questions I had and new interests I found, which helped to keep me going.鈥�
Even though it鈥檚 been a long journey, Read graduates this spring with happy memories of performing in dance shows by great choreographers and artists (and even getting the opportunity to produce one herself) and of days spent outdoors doing field work.
Of course, Read hasn鈥檛 forgotten her passion for dance.
This year, she received the School of Environmental Science鈥檚 Aiden Serr Memorial Award for her demonstrated dedication to the intersectionality of the arts and science, and she hopes to continue to find a way to incorporate both into her future career.
鈥淔or me, dance can be a powerful way to tell a story or explain something without using words, in a way that can reach a large number of people at the same time. Art can be a very powerful tool used for education, and I hope to explore how to use art to educate people about the impacts of climate change and sustainability.鈥�