Alumni Stories

The first time Gastón Miyashiro (Class of 2007, Argentina) stepped foot on EARTH’s campus wasn’t his first day as a student—it was for a week-long training on microorganisms. At the time, Gastón was studying Business Administration at the University of Buenos Aires and had been working with Effective Microorganisms, a Japanese technology that creates synergistic effects by combining beneficial microbiomes that exist in nature…

Within her first week at EARTH, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Betania Taquiva Ramírez (Class of 2016, Venezuela) had already introduced herself to all 400 students, the faculty, and every staff member on the Guácimo Campus…

Inspired by his grandfather, Cawayne always dreamed of working in agriculture. He imagined studying close to home in Jamaica, where he could directly uplift his family and community…

Malachi Troy Symonds, from the island of Bermuda, is not one to step away from a challenge. The 2019 EARTH graduate, well-known locally for his agronomy skills and gardening expertise, is working diligently to develop the agricultural capacity of his home country in a sustainable and environmentally conscious way…

From Scotland, Karina Garcés-Mirza (Class of 2002, Ecuador) is leading green infrastructure projects that aim to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. Her background in sustainable development and rural communities now translates into an urban vision committed to building more resilient and sustainable cities…

Abigael Simaloi Pertet (Class of 2016, Kenya), a Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, first learned about EARTH University through the Maasai Girls Education Fund, an organization whose mission is to support girls’ education and empowerment and who had sponsored her schooling. In 2012, an EARTH graduate gave a presentation about EARTH, and in that moment Abigael fell in love with the idea of what the institution represented…

Yngrid Espinoza Villaruel (Class of 2011, Peru) was the first recipient of a scholarship funded by EARTH alumni. What began as a unique opportunity became a path marked by effort, innovation, social and environmental impact, and an unwavering commitment to giving back to the world…

David Steiger has long been committed to making his community, and the world, a more equitable place. The 2011 graduate, from Switzerland, was one of the first students from the European continent to attend EARTH University. David is currently working for Robi, an NGO that provides services for vulnerable children in his small yet diverse hometown of Olten, Switzerland…

For the past seven years, EARTH graduate and Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Tariq S. Kelly (Class of 2017, Jamaica) has served as Pineapple and Coconut Crop Manager at JP Tropical Foods, a 190-hectare farm in Jamaica. The company is a leading producer of bananas, pineapples, plantains, and coconuts…

Since childhood, Lucina Martínez Régules (Class of 2004, Mexico) understood that community is not just a place—it’s a way of being in the world. More than two decades after graduating from EARTH, her work continues to advance the autonomy of Indigenous peoples, defend the textile heritage of Chinanteco women, and seek justice within a system that does not treat everyone equally.