My name is Robin Cheney. I grew up in a small town in rural, upstate New York called Cambridge. I spent a year studying at Clarkson University in a special program that allowed me to complete my senior year in high school and my first year in college, all in one year. I then transferred to the University of Vermont to pursue a major in environmental studies. I was determined to take advantage of studying abroad to travel and explore other cultures and environments, as well as develop my studies and continue interaction with the natural world. The School for Field Studies offered me the opportunity to live and to work in a tropical rainforest, and potentially provide solutions for the modern conflicts between humans and the environment. The thousands of plant and animal species in the rainforest threatened by human development and intervention is disturbing and unnecessary, and I am eager to work with others to promote change.