UnEarth Magazine.

Words by Teigan Aitken, Art by Clodagh Earl.

Was I always predisposed to want to be heard? To want to change society’s stereotypes and expectations? To change the world? Or was the expectation of women to take care of everything the foundation of my own activism? 

 Growing up an only child to a single mother I spent my formative years surrounded by a matriarch who inspired me endlessly, seeing someone do it all, I always knew I could too. But should I have to? When we look at those who champion causes, we see many female faces. Yet in the disciplines where we build the solutions, and find the causes, the representation is less apparent. With so much progress being made regarding inclusivity, how is it that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) subjects are still part of such a male dominated world, and how does this intersect with my own environmentalism and experiences? 

I am very lucky to be here. The opportunity to study at any University, let alone a University like St. Andrews is one that not everyone can take up. It’s an opportunity my mother fought for my entire life. In part, this piece is my own celebration of her influence on my life, and yet it is also a reflection on how each experience and step forward can accumulate in changes that could affect so many others.  

I love the world. And nature. And the way we are all connected. It’s a love that has been nurtured through countless national trust visits, or dog walks, or beach days. Through a garden filled with flowers and bees. Through a village school, and muddy puddles. It’s a love that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my days, and it informs much of my decisions and experiences. We were always a household that loved the outdoors, and I wonder now if it was formed due the accessibility of it all. The outdoors nurtured a resilience, and a desire to explore. Those qualities are what led me to St. Andrews, and into Astrophysics.  

I came to St. Andrews a bright eyed 18-year-old, straight of the back of the pandemic, scared of what was happening in the world and determined leave my own mark on it. Wisdom from my mother always taught me to be strong enough to make my mark wherever I go and flexible enough to recognise where it needs to be made. I carry that wisdom with me here, researching sustainability within the academics, and making efforts to be more environmentally conscientious. 

The first step in my journey was choosing to come here. The next was recognising my own impact on the world. Now, I look to the future and see how I can make progressive change, championing environmentalism throughout all aspects of my life.  

Every change results in something bigger than I’d expect. By entering the scientific community, I created more space for women in that world. By switching to Soy/Oat milk I reduced the need for dairy farming and helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By fighting for one cause, I opened my horizons to other causes too. Whether that be fighting for sustainability in the academic schools or taking part in equality talks from sexism to classism.  

In our day to day lives, we make small choices and decisions that we may not even think about. Maybe you saw a piece of litter on the side of the road today and picked it up. You may not think much of it but UK wide we have a recycling rate of less than 50%. Of all the waste produced in the country, only 44.6% of it is disposed of.¹ So that small choice to pick up that litter helps more than any of us would think of.  

A small step with big impact.  

Or maybe in our day to day lives, we advocate for women and girls in STEM. Creating spaces for more voices to be heard. When you consider activism, we often look back to the suffragettes, and in a more modern setting groups and movements such as Me Too, and Extinction Rebellion. These groups and movements have so often been fronted and supported by women. So, by showing up in a world that’s hoping to solve issues like climate change, we give the women in those circles the credibility they’ve been fighting for.  

A small step helping with big change. 

Championing climate change and advocating for further progress is a great example of how activism in one area is so closely linked to activism elsewhere. The intersectionality never ceases.  

I began this piece talking about my own love of nature and the effort my mum put in to make sure I had every opportunity available to me. I want to end it reflecting on that, seeing a woman fight for her daughter’s opportunities showed me how much of a fight the world can ask of people. I became so passionate about my own fight that it was easy to turn that into passion for other causes. Nature was an obvious first step, we’ve all grown up in a world drastically changing because of climate change – it’s impossible to ignore. The fight to be heard showed me how much further we must go to reach true equality in the modern world. And each day I go to my classes and take up that space, or I make the choice to specialise in environmental science, or even just the choice to eat less meat, I’m doing small things that have the potential to make big changes.  

Small things add up, and whilst I haven’t spent this piece offering advice or suggesting how we can advocate for causes, I hope that having taken the time to read it you take away something about your own ability to make change. Thinking about how when you choose to take up space, or champion a cause, you’re taking that first step, and you never know where that may lead.  

Let’s see what change we can bring about.  

References: 

1: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-waste-data/uk-statistics-on-waste