Science Students Giving Back Take an active role in social issues through volunteerism

By Sara Timmons

Coordinated by Leadership and Volunteer Services, alternative spring break is an opportunity for students to actively address social issues such as hunger, homelessness and environmental restoration on a week-long break.

In 1994, 20 students departed to Reynosa, Mexico, to participate in UTSA’s first alternative spring break hosted by the Volunteer Organization Involving Community, Education and Service (VOICES). Today, students from the College of Sciences and other areas around UTSA uphold this tradition of service during their alternative spring break and partnered with other organizations around the world.

Natalie Martinez is a first-year environmental science major who is passionate about sustainable living. Through more awareness and education, Martinez says, Texans can learn how sustainable living impacts all of our daily lives and reduces our carbon footprint. Martinez participated in this year’s Environmental Alternative Spring Break to learn new ways to bring her goal of educating others about sustainable living practices to fruition.

“This trip opened my eyes to more ways that we can help people here in Texas learn more about sustainability,” she says. Not only did participation in this program help Martinez learn how to make an impact in the community, but it also enriched her academic career. “This will benefit my academic journey because I saw how my studies and field can impact people and how people can impact it.”

Additionally, in November 2022, Martinez volunteered for the empty bowl experience with the Najim Center for Innovation and Career Advancement at UTSA. At this annual event, participants receive soup and bread with the purchase of an empty bowl, which brings attention to hunger in the community.

Madeline Morales is a senior environmental science major and a member of UTSA’s Top Scholar scholarship program for academically talented and exceptional servant leaders. Morales led the Environmental Alternative Spring Break and looked forward to playing an active role in an issue that she is passionate about—the impact of climate change on minority communities, which are often not adequately represented in climate policy and action. “As a Hispanic woman, advocating for climate justice for my community and for other disproportionately impacted people is my ultimate motivation for any undertaking in my future plans and career,” she said.

Morales was a campus director for the United Nations Millennium Fellowship in which she led students as they were developing social impact projects. This leadership role prepared her for the Environmental Alternative Spring Break leader position she fulfilled this year. “I have had numerous opportunities at UTSA to advocate for causes I believe in and to apply what I was learning in the classroom,” she said.

Madeline Morales was recently featured in the UTSA episode of the popular series The College Tour available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Hosted by Emmynominated storyteller Alex Boylan, the series highlights universities and colleges across the nation to showcase what college life is like at each university through some of the unique student stories at each location. UTSA will be part of Season 7.

During her junior year, Morales conducted research in New Mexico with the National Hispanic Environmental Council (NHEC) STEM Institute through the UTSA Department of Integrative Biology (formerly the Department of Environmental Science). For 10 days, Morales and her fellow students conducted wildlife and plant assessments as well as soil-, air- and water-quality testing.

Morales also founded Plant the Future, a student organization at UTSA that has planted over 3,000 trees at no cost to the San Antonio community, as it was funded by the City of San Antonio Tree Fund. In the summer of 2022, Morales worked as an English language intern for two months at the Life Skills Development Foundation, a child rights nonprofit in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While in Thailand, she assisted in writing and revising grants and project reports. “I have been lucky to find my path and to be able to pursue challenging opportunities that have fostered growth in myself as a person and as a student, and I hope the same for my fellow Roadrunners,” she said.