Ericka Staples

Ericka Staples's avatar

Member since December 2009

Having the luxury to grow up on the tropical oasis of Oa’hu’s north shores has instilled in me a love and appreciation for the beautiful and the sacred. My roots in Hawaii are a part of the reason why I have chosen to dedicate my talents and my time to the development of TENTHMIL.
Environmental issues force us to take responsibility for our actions: they put matters of food, water, individual responsibility, and survival on a global platform. It doesn’t matter whether you are a self-proclaimed tree-hugger or one who loves the excuse “ignorance is bliss,” the very fact that you are sitting here reading this biography is evidence that you are alive, and thus have an impact on the well-being of this planet. Moral obligation and good conscience are reasons enough in the case for Earth.
My ambitions have led me here to Eugene, where I am pursuing an undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon. My major is journalism with a minor in writing, speaking, & critical reasoning (yes, that is one minor!) I am lucky to be attending a university with such high levels of political awareness and student activism. I am even luckier to have the most beautiful and supportive family in the world. Without them—the backbone of my life—I would not be where I am today.
Throughout my college career I hope to build credibility as a watchdog on behalf of the public. I intend to do this by developing my writing and research skills, but mostly by learning how to be a responsible investigative journalist.
This year, I have the amazing opportunity to be the president of the University of Oregon’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The benefits of being a member of a national organization with such an honorable history are enormous: I am learning how to honor and apply the journalist’s Code of Ethics in both my professional and personal life; I have the opportunity to meet with peers who are just as passionate about striving for progressive change; and I am gaining the tools I need to be a contributing player on the TENTHMIL team.
My greatest hope is that one day when I am too old and wrinkly to enjoy a beer and a summer afternoon swim at Wildwood Falls with my friends, I’ll be able to look back and see that my time has made a difference for the environment, the future, and us.

Recent Campaign Entries:

  1. Atrazine & Intersexed Frogs

    Posted March 16, 2010
    in Restoration Campaign

    A new study out of UC Berkeley claims Atrazine, a popular herbicide used in agriculture all over the world, causes sex change in frogs. What's it doing to humans?

  2. Lawsuit Forces EPA to Confront Ocean Acidification

    Posted March 15, 2010
    in Policy Campaign

    The "evil twin of climate change" is getting attention from the federal government. In response to a lawsuit filed by a San Francisco conservation group, the EPA made an announcement late last week that it will start analyzing the Clean Water Act to crack down on ocean pollution levels.

  3. The Gyres Part 4: The Atlantic Ocean Garbage Dump

    Posted March 8, 2010
    in Restoration Campaign

    We've known for a while that plastic trash accumulates at the center of the North Pacific Ocean - a region euphemistically called "The Great Garbage Patch." Researchers have now confirmed there's a similar region off the US East Coast in the North Atlantic, and that's not good news.

  4. Plastic Toxins… In Your “Health” Supplements?

    Posted March 4, 2010
    in Policy Campaign

    A large part of TENTHMIL's Restoration Campaign is pushing for massive clean-up of the trash - mostly plastics - in our waters. Now, a lawsuit filed in California brings a spooky issue to the public's attention: PCBs, known carcinogens that were once used in the making of plastics, have been detected in 10 fish oil health supplements.

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