MAJOR: Environmental Science
INVOLVEMENT: IC Volleyball, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Leadership Academy, Eco Athletes, Hidden Opponent, Give at IC (Founder), Eco-Reps
For the Win—and the World
By Kim Nagy, September 16, 2026
Meet Naomi ’27: She didn't choose between her passions. She combined them at IC.
Naomi ’27
At IC, I’ve encountered so much support. It feels like everyone here is saying, Let’s lift you up and help you be the best you can be.
Naomi ’27
Naomi has always felt like she lives in two worlds. As an athlete, she is driven, disciplined, and all-in on her team. She is also a dedicated environmentalist who educates visitors at her local zoo, raises awareness about food waste and single-use plastics, and is constantly thinking about how small actions can make bigger impacts.
When she visited IC as a senior in high school, a session with environmental science faculty felt exactly right. She remembers thinking, Yeah, these are the people I want to be around.
At Ithaca, Naomi realized she didn’t have to try to choose the thing she was most interested in. “Ithaca really does a good job of helping you explore different things and subjects,” explains Naomi. “There’s a huge emphasis on taking different types of classes. I think that that helped me broaden my horizons and helped me realize that there are so many different possibilities. That was something IC really taught me.”
Through coursework, hands-on projects, and internships with a local watershed organization and Whitestone Associates, a geotechnical and engineering consulting firm, she’s applying what she’s learning in real-world settings. As captain of IC’s volleyball team, she helped lead the team to a Liberty League championship last fall. In the spring, the volleyball team earned IC’s Eco-Blazer Award during Earth Week.