Natalia Uro-De Leon, Environmental Studies Major
Originally born in California, Natalia Uro-De Leon's father’s U.S. Navy service transported her family to Cascais, Portugal, and Gaeta, Italy. While abroad, she found a deep appreciation of languages, cultures, and diverse perspectives. She studied Spanish, French, and Portuguese, and unlocked many new learning opportunities that would transform her understandings and shape her values. Her Spanish fluency allowed her to participate in a STEM program alongside students from all over the Americas. It was through conversations with classmates from Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Mexico, she gained insight into urgent community challenges: the lack of sustainable sanitary systems, inadequate health resources, unreliable electricity, and the ramifications of rushed urban development.
Most recently, after three semesters of studying Portuguese, Natalia immersed herself into the vibrant city of Sao Paulo, Brazil through Dickinson’s Global Integrated Semester. For three weeks, she navigated the infrastructure and found it embodied inclusion so deeply, not out of necessity but out of a genuine desire to engage everyone in a fulfilling way. Mass public transit featured preferential seating that included mourning individuals and those with autism, art galleries had touchable works of art with braille legends, and even the busiest walkways incorporated grooves for the visually impaired. Her interest in sustainable development emphasizes accessibility, equity, and inclusion. As an Environmental Studies major at Dickinson, she dedicates herself to deepening her knowledge and honing her creativity to explore viable solutions to environmental and social issues as a community partner and dedicated public servant.