From travelling the world to global lock-down, SFU grad keeps a positive outlook on 2020

Celeste Landon is no stranger to unconventional adventures. 

Feeling the need for a change of scenery and eager to see what SFU had to offer, Celeste moved cross-country from Quebec to BC to pursue a BSc in environmental science with a concentration in applied biology. The move was an easy decision for this avid world traveler. 

“I had a bit of an unconventional upbringing because my dad worked in international development,” says Celeste who graduates this week.  “We lived in Zimbabwe when I was a kid, then in Tanzania when I was in high school. This definitely sparked my love for travelling and curiosity for the world.”

“Even with these experiences overseas, SFU taught me a lot about myself when it comes to moving to a new city and navigating a new university community,” says Celeste. 

Earlier this year, she was on a four-month exchange in Singapore. When the lockdown commenced in Canada due to COVID-19, she was rushed home. While sad to cut her time abroad short, Celeste says she’s grateful to be safe at home with family, taking this as an opportunity to reflect on the state of our planet.  

“Although so many want things to go back to ‘normal,’ I think this is a wake-up call for a lot of us that ‘normal’ wasn’t good enough,” she says. “I think our society is learning a lot from this pandemic.”

Celeste recently moved back to Vancouver. She is looking forward to applying what she has learned at SFU to a position in the environmental field that allows her to explore the world and make impactful change in how we treat our planet. 

“I have aspirations of becoming a field ecologist,” she says. “I’m interested in learning about the interactions between organisms and their physical environment, and I hope that I can be a part of maintaining the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystems.”