Chase Maxwell
“EPI was the best abroad experience I could have done in high school. It gave me a greater appreciation for the natural world.”EPI Experience Plants Seed for International Work
When Chase signed up for EPI’s Costa Rica course as a high school sophomore, he did it because it sounded fun – little did he know that it would pave the way for his future interest in the environment and humanitarian issues. While he was awed by the huge leatherback sea turtles and studying animals in the rainforest, it was the interaction with the local Costa Ricans and up-close views of their livelihoods that impacted him most. Practicing Spanish, learning from his Costa Rican instructors and the international researchers, and tromping through banana plantations helped him understand how his actions in the United States affect people around the globe.
After graduating high school, Chase is now studying International Relations and Architectural Studies at Tufts University. He plans to conduct research in the near future on rain catchment, and apply ancient Indian technologies to help relieve drought-ridden areas both in his home state of Montana and around the world.