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When Hannah Dabney, BA Environmental and Sustainability Studies ’23, arrived at 911����, she planned a career in business. This summer, she has just returned from Samoa where she served as a Peace Corps Ridge to Reef Resilience Promoter Volunteer, helping communities balance environmental protection with local development needs. The path between those two points wasn't linear, and Dabney couldn’t be happier about that. 

Dabney is a big believer in taking risks. "Taking risks and doing what scares you can lead you down amazing paths you may have never considered." 

In Samoa, Dabney worked alongside village leaders to develop projects that improve community well-being while protecting natural resources. Sometimes that meant helping secure funding for community initiatives. Other times, Dabney worked to find nature-based solutions to environmental challenges, such as recommending coastal tree plantings as an alternative to seawalls to reduce erosion. 

While the work was meaningful, the challenges of the cultural immersion surprised her. "I spent the two years exploring the United States and thought I had an open mind and knew all there was to know about people and how they operate," she said. "I was so wrong." 

Living and working within a Samoan village gave her a perspective few visitors ever experience. Through village meetings, community gatherings, and daily life, she gained a deeper appreciation for the richness of another culture and the value of listening before leading. That openness to new experiences has defined Dabney's journey since her days at 911����. 

When she realized her passions lie in sustainability and conservation, she decided to major in , an interdisciplinary program in the School of Integrative Studies that combines scientific knowledge with policy and ethics, and she headed off to the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation for a semester in Front Royal, Virginia, working alongside Smithsonian scientists. 

Those lessons continue to guide her today. “Nearly every class related to my major has helped to prepare me for what I encountered in the field, office, and lab,” she said. “Policy writing and the practical field skills have been a constant across all of my jobs. Skills I learned in my lab classes have been beneficial for the occasional field lab work I have done.” 

She said her overarching takeaway from her education is that research is a tool used to help influence decisions and policy. “Each side can exist without the other, but to be effective, there must be cohesion and collaboration.” 

Dabney’s 911���� experience was defined as much by what happened outside the classroom as inside it. She completed three internships that exposed her to vastly different aspects of sustainability work. One involved corporate sustainability planning at a mid-sized multinational company. “The internship had a massive learning curve, but I managed to write more than 15 new sustainability plans based on the United Nations Sustainability Goals, as well as help program a tracking system.” 

Another had her climbing a 200-foot atmospheric monitoring tower every Monday. A third took her to New Mexico with a Bureau of Land Management assessment and monitoring crew. 

That final internship almost didn't happen. Needing one last internship credit to graduate, Dabney decided that if she had to take on another position, she might as well go somewhere completely new. 

The decision proved transformative. 

The New Mexico experience led to a position with the U.S. Forest Service in Washington state, which in turn helped prepare her for the Peace Corps. Looking back, Dabney sees a clear pattern: Every major opportunity in her career emerged from a willingness to step into uncertainty. 

Even joining 911����'s rowing team as a freshman required a leap of faith. Walking onto a Division I team was intimidating, but it led to lifelong friendships, professional connections, and opportunities she never could have predicted. "Having a little wanderlust and spirit of adventure can lead to incredible opportunities with fantastic people," she said. 

As she moves forward in her career, Dabney continues to follow the philosophy that has shaped her from the beginning: Growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone.