Alumni Spotlight: Brooke Larsen

Brooke Larsen graduated from the Environmental Humanities program in 2018. Her thesis was titled Layers Exposed: A Journey Through the Frontlines of Climate Injustice on the Colorado Plateau. She served as the first community engagement and outreach coordinator for the Environmental Humanities program from August 2020 to July 2023. You can visit her portfolio here. The following interview was conducted over email in February 2026.

Eliana Massey: What prompted you to pursue a master’s degree in the Environmental Humanities program? 

Brooke Larsen: I learned about the program when I was a juncture about a year after graduating college in Colorado. I bought the LSAT study guide and thought I was going to go to law school and become an environmental lawyer. But then I had a chance to meet someone who was heavily involved in the program in its early years, and she reawakened my love of story and creativity and told me about the unique approach the EH program took to education. I decided to apply, drawn to the opportunity to grow my skills as a writer and storyteller while deepening my education in the environment in my home state.  

Eliana Massey: What did you learn during your time as a student in the Environmental Humanities program? What did you learn from your fellow students and professors? 

Brooke Larsen: Throughout my time in EH, I deepened and broadened my perspectives on a variety of environmental issues thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of the program. I was exposed to a wide range of faculty in departments spanning from history to sociology. My fellow students also had such diverse interests and academic focuses, from paintings on air pollution to research on climate refugees, that the classroom discussions always were stimulating and sparked new ideas for me.  

My research specifically focused on the climate justice movement in the Southwest, and I interviewed dozens of people affected by climate change and energy extraction. Thanks to an independent study with my mentor and project chair, Brett Clark, I also dove deep into social movement literature, which informed my research for my final project. Through a variety of courses, I learned a lot about how to communicate environmental issues effectively -- from the craft of narrative nonfiction to strategies for connecting to people's values and experience. I grew as a writer, taking writing seminars in both the EH program and the English department.  

Eliana Massey: Did you work with any campus or community partner organizations during your time as student? If so, what was meaningful to you about these partnerships? 

Brooke Larsen: I did partner with some community organizations working on climate justice issues to organize a symposium that explored how the arts and humanities are tools to engage in local environmental issues. We held an art build, painting banners and posters, and hosted a panel and writing workshop on campus. I found this to be a meaningful way to bridge the "town-gown gap" as it's sometimes called, bringing the larger Salt Lake community, students and faculty together to explore local climate issues and creative approaches to raise awareness.  

Eliana Massey: The field of environmental humanities values the specificity of place-based and embodied knowledges. How did being in Utah shape your experience in the Environmental Humanities program? What sights, smells, sounds, or textures do you associate with your time in the Environmental Humanities program? 

Brooke Larsen: I grew up in Utah and much of my research in undergrad in Colorado ended up focusing on environmental issues in Utah. So the issues facing the lands, water and air in my home state kept drawing me back, and studying in the Environmental Humanities Program felt like the perfect way to dive deeper.  

I associate my time in the program with a few landscapes in particular: the view of the Wasatch Mountains from the front lawn of the EH building; the nearby Bonneville Shoreline Trail, just a short walk from the program's doors; and the Dolores River and sandstone canyons at the Rio Mesa Field Station east of Moab.  

The views and landscapes that surround the EH building -- from snow covered peaks to the gentle ripple of Red Butte Creek --- itself provided a consistent grounding in the issues we studied.  

And I was beyond lucky to receive a Rio Mesa Young Scholars grant and spent several long weekends and weeks at Rio Mesa during my summer research and second year writing my final project. Having quiet, expansive time in the bioregion I was writing about in my research was such a gift that still fills me with gratitude. I spent hours walking across warm sand and sticky sandstone. In the colder months, the warm sun that often shone bright against deep blue skies always offered me a joyful break from the dark, dreary winter in Salt Lake. In the warmer months, I sweat in the sweltering desert heat while swatting away deer flies, finding reprieve under the shade of a Cottonwood tree or the cool river of sorrows that wove through the landscape. I grew as a writer, a human and resident of the Colorado Plateau.  

Eliana Massey: What do you consider the greatest strengths of the Environmental Humanities program? 

Brooke Larsen: I think its greatest strength is its interdisciplinary nature, including the wide range of faculty that teach and mentor students and the diversity of interests and expertise students bring to the program. That fosters a lively intellectual and creative environment that's not only deeply engaging and exciting, but also I think better prepares students to make a tangible impact on critical environmental issues after they leave the program. They bring with them a greater depth and breadth of perspectives, approaches and understanding -- something greatly needed in this time of silos.  

Eliana Massey: How has your Environmental Humanities education influenced your pursuits after graduation? 

Brooke Larsen: I have continued to pursue work at the intersection of community engagement, storytelling and writing about the environment. That has looked a bit different over the years. I loved the program so much I was easily drawn back to be the first community engagement coordinator for the program after it received a Mellon Grant in 2020. Eventually I realized I wanted to fully dedicate my professional time to writing and storytelling, though, and I accepted a fellowship with High Country News, a regional magazine that covers issues across the West. I particularly wrote about water, land agriculture, energy and rural communities across Utah and the broader region. I'm now a reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, covering the Colorado River, the environment and other issues facing communities across southwest Utah.  

Eliana Massey: What do you hope for the future of the Environmental Humanities program? 

Brooke Larsen: I hope the program continues to embrace interdisciplinary and creative approaches to research. I hope it provides students freedom to pursue their passions and wild ideas while also providing the tools and mentorship to turn those interests into meaningful projects that deepen conversations, inform and have a real impact in the world.