Sam Bliss

Sam, a student from the Western Washington Honors Program, was awarded a Fulbright to study the interactions between sustainable degrowth and economic inequity in Spain. He planned to partner with degrowth scholars in Western Europe to contribute to the body of research and learn what aspects of degrowth can be realistically transported back to the United States. His research was expected to extend the macroeconomic theory of wealth and income inequity, and through his own experience of economically downshifting, he lived his research interest. Sam's undergraduate success in economics and environmental studies demonstrated his ability to integrate formal learning with independent study, and he hoped to use his newfound skills to present his findings in meaningful written products for both professional and public audiences. Sam’s Fulbright experience taught him to think less about the scarcity of Earth’s resources, and more about how communities can collectively practice “self-limitation according to the world they want to inhabit now and in the future,” rather than relying on technology to fix the climate crisis.