Hi, I’m Daniel Egitto, a freshman at Duke with an intended major in English. I’m from Florida, and I spent the better part of my childhood growing up in some small, quiet suburbs surrounded by pretty much nothing but farms, rivers and untouched forest for acres and acres around. Out where I lived, it was nearly impossible to ever get more than a few miles from the wilderness that still covers a huge chunk of Florida today. Mazes of pine and oak forests made up my backyard, crisscrossed with bubbling springs and dotted with the occasional deer, coyote or alligator peeking out of the trees. It was there in those Florida woods, kayaking and hiking through some of America’s last wild places, that I first fell in love with the natural world and the conservationist issues facing our country today.

Daniel Egitto in a tree

Incoming freshman Daniel Egitto is pursuing an English major for a future career in journalism.

Because despite its treasure trove of both scientific and recreational gems, Florida has a truly terrible history of protecting natural heritage. Governor Rick Scott, for example, brought in a gag rule on the words “climate change” appearing in any state environmental document, while at the same time the well-being of those springs I came to know and love in my childhood has faced rising challenges due to unsustainable farming practices and water use policies. An unacceptable number of Americans are still unaware of both the struggles and opportunities this country’s biodiversity has always offered, and because of this I have come to develop a passion for both science education and topical journalism in general.

In high school my experiences led me to reach out into my community, engaging with children about basic scientific concepts at a local robotics camp and “Science Saturdays” series. I also became heavily involved with my school’s newly-founded newspaper, where I helped shift its focus onto important yet poorly-publicized struggles of both our society and our world as a whole.

As I enter into my first year on Duke campus, I hope to work with the Duke Research Blog to further both my interests and my goals. I’m currently pursuing a future career in journalism, and by working with Duke Research I hope we can all help nurture a more informed and understanding world.

In addition to my work with this blog, I also intend to get involved with the Chronicle and Me Too Monologues on campus.