Clayton Ferrara ’08 is the National Science Director for Ideas For Us, a nonprofit with the goal of “helping to advance sustainability and environmental awareness through youth-led action.” As a biologist and life-long philanthropist, Clayton brings passion to every project he encounters.
Transcript
>> My name is Clayton Lewis Ferraro, and I'm a biologist. And currently I am National Science Director for an organization called Ideas for Us. We're a global organization that basically works with sustainability issues but is a very much so youth-led sustainability movement. We basically have a network of campuses, K through 12 schools around the country and also now in 17 different countries around the world where we basically create an interdisciplinary think slash do tank we call it where we basically get students not only looking at the things that they want to change in their communities, but we then use those successes, best practices or the issues that they fell into and communicate with all of the other chapters around the world so that one campuses victory becomes a victory for far more than just that isolated aspect. For me, of course, considering my background is biology, I'm an advocate of science across the board, an advocate of getting students involved in undergraduate research. This was something that was very important to me when I went to Rollins. And it made a big difference in me understanding the different avenues that I could go into in my career or did not want to go into. So, of course being active in that essence. So, I serve as the liaison in speaking with the academics, in speaking with students in colleges, other organizations, and attracting them to ideas and attracting the ideal students because we have over 10,000 people who are part of our organization across the world and directing them at the resources that these other organizations are offering.
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