Phuong Nguyen, along with Nahla Almbaid from Palestine and Ikran Sheik-Mursal from the US, is honored with the Global Citizenship Student Award (GCSA) 2020 by Minnesota-based Macalester College and the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC), stated the college in a statement.

Phuong Nguyen, a graduating senior at Macalester College. Source: Macalester.

The GCSA is presented every April by Macalester College and the IGC to the graduating seniors who best demonstrate a commitment to the ideals and practice of high academic performance, internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement.

Phuong is currently a biology and environmental studies major with a passion for conservation ecology at Macalester College. Over the course of her time at the college, she worked with several conservation and research programs in Minnesota, Vietnam, and South Africa, and was involved with Macalester’s Vietnamese Cultural Organization (VCO).

During an online speech, Phuong said a highlight of that experience was interning with Urban Roots MN, an organization dedicated to empowering young people through “nature, healthy foods, and community.” As a conservation intern, Phuong helped educate students from around the Twin Cities, a consortium of five liberal arts colleges in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, on the importance of preserving and protecting the natural world.

After graduation, Phuong will be moving back to Vietnam to work as a researcher for the Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species.