Rachel Gates ‘20

Rachel Gates ‘20 grew up in San Francisco and came on a tour at Barnard College in her junior year of high school. She had always aspired to attend a liberal arts college in a new region. As Rachel walked alongside the tour guide and learned about Barnard’s focus on student growth alongside research opportunities, she fell in love with the College. She tugged at her mother’s hand while whispering to her, “I want to go here.” She applied Early Decision to Barnard and, upon opening her acceptance letter in December, knew that Barnard would become her home for the next four years. 

Rachel fostered a passion for Environmental Science, which she later declared as her major. This interest emerged from sampling courses such as Introduction to Solid Earth, Qualitative Methods for Sustainable Methods, and Public Lands in the American West. In the Solid Earth course in particular, where she went on class field trips to the outdoors, like Inwood Park, Rachel would eventually become a teaching assistant for the course in her junior year.

One aspect of majoring in STEM that Rachel liked was that STEM-focused requirements for her major were coupled with liberal arts and humanities courses, creating a unique blend to deeply learn about environmental science. This is the case of her Public Lands in the American West course, where she learned about the indigenous human-land relationships with land. “Barnard equipped me with critical thinking skills and fostered my interest in environmental science and policy.” 

Beyond her classes, Rachel was involved in various campus initiatives and contributed to setting a chart for sustainability on the campus. She was the first student assistant for the Office of Sustainability at Barnard, envisioning what energy savings, conservation, and community engagement would look like. She was also part of the Barnard Student Government Association, bringing a sustainability lens to the campus initiatives. In the summer, she took part in the Barnard Summer Research Institute, doing research at Lamont-Doherty, where she examined ice samples and air bubbles from thousands of years ago. In her free time, she volunteered with Sprout Up, where she taught young students about plants. Rachel’s on-campus work and research studies deepened her knowledge of the environmental science field and further fostered her curiosity. She later joined the University of Washington as a Master’s student for Marine Affairs, and is currently managing a tribal energy sovereignty program. 

Reflecting on her Barnard journey, Rachel describes Barnard as “creative, welcoming, and thoughtful.” She was drawn to Barnard due to its nature of bringing together people who are outspoken and willing to challenge their own beliefs in classes and beyond. She is grateful that Barnard fosters a culture of curiosity where students take classes and pursue research that is intellectually challenging as well as interesting to them, thus finding their true passion. 

She encourages prospective students to learn about Barnard and reflect on their goals for their college experience. If Barnard can support these goals, students will immediately know if Barnard is the right fit for them. Ultimately, Rachel reminds students to explore all of their interests and have fun while at it!