Earth Day Feature - Luisa Chantler Edmond '22
4/22/2022
When I was a kid, I loved anything to do with big cats.Luisa Chantler Edmond
David Attenborough documentaries were a staple of Luisa Chantler Edmond’s childhood, and one of her earliest television memories. Now a Princeton Tiger, she’d spend hours marveling at the beauty, mystique, and strength of the wildlife featured in Attenborough’s documentaries. Hailing from Oxford, England, she had the opportunity to see much of this wildlife up close, living in Kenya from age of eight until she was 10.
“Those were very formative years,” said Chantler Edmond. “There’s wildlife in front of your eyes at all times, but the mismanagement of where our wildlife lives is also very present. The two things came together to really influence me.”
Since arriving at Princeton, Chantler Edmond has made an impact as a thrower, regularly scoring points at Heps and producing some of the best marks in program history. In 2020, she was named Second Team All-Ivy League in the weight throw after finishing as runner-up. She’s etched her name into the record book, holding a top-five mark in school history in the weight throw, and also holding top-10 marks in the hammer throw and the discus.
These days, Chantler Edmond is a member of the Princeton University Ecology Representative Program (EcoReps). Hosted by the Office of Sustainability, the EcoRep program was founded in 2004, and its mission is to promote the integration to sustainability into life on campus in alignment with the Sustainability Action Plan. EcoReps aim to see every Princeton student adopt at least one aspect of sustainable living into their daily lives, and to understand the value of sustainability for themselves, their communities, and the environment.
Chantler Edmond started her role as an EcoRep at the beginning of her junior year, fall 2020; former teammate Julia Harisay ’21 told her that along with needing a job, she also cared about the environment and that she should apply to be an EcoRep. The job has been passed down amongst the women’s track & field team, as another team passed it along to Harisay.
“We each knew we cared about the environment,’ said Chantler Edmond. “We wanted to do something to help on campus.”
In her role as an EcoRep, Chantler Edmond is a member of the social media team. She makes graphics and helps run the Tigers Go Green social media accounts for the Office of Sustainability. The group meets weekly to strategize and discuss its future plans.
Her accomplishments aren’t limited to just athletics, as she’s been heavily involved with several Office of Sustainability initiatives as an EcoRep. Of the initiatives she is most proud of is a Black History Month social media campaign, that highlighted Black environmentalists who have accomplished a lot but have not always been celebrated for what they do.
She was also a large part of creating the Office of Sustainability Thanksgiving Series, which was all about ways to be sustainable around the Thanksgiving Period. This was also linked with Native American History Month.
Looking ahead in the short term, there will be clothing swaps at the end of the academic year, along with donation boxes around all of the different Residential Colleges. Instead of throwing things away, students are able to leave items in the boxes. They are then put in storage for the summer, then sold early in the fall in Dillon Gymnasium. This includes anything from couches, to lamps, to clothing.
The sale at the beginning of this year was insane, it was mayhem. There was a line from the front of Dillon all the way past Dodd. People wanted to get in and buy this reused stuff. There was this huge crowd, it was like Beatlemania but for reused items.Luisa Chantler Edmond
Citing her childhood experiences in Kenya along with hours spent watching Attenborough documentaries, Chantler Edmond has always cared about conservation. She considered being an Environmental Biology major, but ended up choosing Anthropology.
The idea of protecting our planet, and preserving our resources are ideas I care about. I’ve always been that way.Luisa Chantler Edmond
Living in Kisimu, Kenya, right on Lake Victoria, a lake the size of Switzerland, Chantler Edmond regularly saw Hippopotamus along with different types of marine species in and around the lake, a large ecosystem and a huge resource that people depend on. She remembers seeing mismanagement of the lake, and the impact it had on both wildlife and people.
“There was a highly-invasive plant species (water hyacinth),” explained Chantler Edmond. “It would grow so much that it would take all of the oxygen in the water from the fish, and turn the water from blue to green. The plants had taken over. It’s difficult because there’s all of these people and animals that depend on this resource, and it’s important to learn how to manage it properly. Eventually, the fish all die, then the next animal in the food chain dies, until we get big, charismatic animals like the Hippo not being able to survive. It’s all interwoven together.”
Chantler Edmond also cites the recent David Attenborough documentary “My Life”, as having influenced her.
“It’s less of a documentary, and more of an impassioned argument for why we should care more,” proclaimed Chantler Edmond. “He’s 90, he’s in a good position to tell 20-year-olds about why they should care about the planet.”
Chantler Edmond’s passion for this cause is just getting started. After graduating, she plans on doing a grad year, where she will be doing a Masters of Communications, and taking select Environmental Studies Classes. While she doesn’t yet have a set career path in mind, she’s aware that having knowledge of about sustainability can only take you so far. She desires to learn more about how better communicate the message, especially to those who may never have thought about the issue before.
It all starts with having a conversation with someone about why they should care.Luisa Chantler Edmond
“That’s why I chose communication,” explained Chantler Edmond. "It’s almost more important to know how to speak to people, so they change their behaviors and habits, as opposed to preaching about something you know everything about.”
With the end of the end of the outdoor season still to play out, Chantler Edmond will soon write the final chapter of her time as a Princeton student-athlete. While she'll be remembered for her athletic accomplishments, she should also be remembered for her work as an EcoRep and with the Office of Sustainability. Whatever ever she chooses long term, the concept of sustainability appears to be at the forefront of an extremely bright future.
