#SoCaltech: Cecilia (Cece) Abramson

“The most meaningful work I did while at Caltech was with the Caltech Y [a student-driven organization that focuses on community service, leadership, and outdoor activities]. I’m the chair of the Caltech Y’s Student Activism Speaker Series. The series brings people from the community around us to speak to students about issues of science policy, human rights, climate change, and more. It’s important that we open up a dialogue about issues like these, which rarely come up as part of our regular Caltech curriculum. One goal of ours is to motivate others to recognize where their scientific work can have a real impact on our planet. As part of this subcommittee, I also helped plan trips to Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, during which we met with policymakers

An issue that I care deeply about is the environment and climate change. These are things I’ve been interested in since high school. I grew up in a small town in rural Illinois, where climate change was not a prevalent issue. Now I’m going back to Illinois to begin my PhD program in atmospheric science and meteorology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Despite a roundabout path at Caltech—I changed my major five times—pursuing my PhD in this area is a dream come true."

Cecilia (Cece) Abramson is graduating this summer from Caltech with a bachelor's degree in astrophysics and a minor in environmental science.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.