Farming runs in Brandon Zimmer’s genes.
The Saint John’s University junior’s uncle still runs a farm between St. Joseph and Cold Spring that has been in the family since 1865.
That helps explain the environmental studies major’s interest in sustainable agriculture – a topic he was able to explore more fully on a global scale when he was one of 17 students from SJU and the College of Saint Benedict who attended this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29), which ran from Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“I think the biggest takeaway was understanding how climate impacts people around the world in different ways,” said Zimmer, a St. Cloud Apollo graduate and member of the Fighting Saints ROTC Battalion at CSB and SJU.
“I was able to attend a talk put on at the Kyrgyzstan pavilion where (their government’s) representatives talked about sustainable agriculture practices they’re implementing – including investing more fully into farming the slopes of their mountains, which seemed to be working for them. That was very interesting.
“Then I went to a sustainable agriculture side event that lasted an hour-and-a-half and featured farmers from the U.S. and Canada talking about the experiences they’ve had trying to put sustainable practices in place. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack) spoke for a few minutes, and I was able to hear what he had to say.”
Such experiences are meaningful for Zimmer, who will serve in the military following graduation, but hopes to eventually pursue a graduate degree in agronomy, soil science or environmental engineering.
“I found it super motivating, because I know farming can be very difficult to get into if you don’t already have access to land and equipment,” he said. “So it was refreshing to see that sustainability is still a priority for a lot of people in the farming community all over the world, and that they are finding ways to be sustainable and still make a profit.”
Both Zimmer and CSB senior Jules Miyazaki said they remained mindful of criticism of Azerbaijan’s environmental and human rights record while still drawing value from their time at the conference.
“Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect, and even after leaving, I’m still trying to process it all,” Miyazaki said. “But I went into it with the goal of talking with officials and leaders from all over the world and I was able to achieve that.”
Miyazaki was also able to reunite with an old friend – 2023 SJU graduate Jervon Sands, who is now studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
“That was really exciting,” she said. “He was part of a panel of youth negotiators working to give young people the tools they need to combat climate change.”
This year marked Zimmer and Miyazaki’s first trip to the conference. SJU senior Nicholas Mertens, an environmental studies and political science major, was making his second trip, having also attended last year’s conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“It was an interesting experience to say the least,” Mertens said. “Baku is a very different city from anywhere here in the Midwest, or even from Dubai. So it had a different feel with its own issues.
“But one of the highlights was seeing the big booths the Central Asian countries had. We were able to try snacks and speak to scientists and activists from those countries – all things we’d never get the chance to do in Minnesota. We also got to go to press conferences with U.S. officials – including one where they spoke about negotiating a trade deal with Azerbaijan. So we got to see people we read about in the New York Times or Washington Post doing their jobs in front of us.”
Students from CSB and SJU first attended the conference in 2009. But in 2015, CSB and SJU were granted formal observer status for the event, which has enabled annual student participation in large numbers every year except for 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.
“It’s very rare for undergraduate students to get the chance to do this,” said Corrie Grosse, an associate professor of environmental studies at CSB and SJU, in advance of the conference. “Various universities from across the U.S. have access, but most of the schools take graduate students. So for our undergraduates to have the chance to do research there makes us fairly unique.
“Being surrounded by other young people – and people of all ages – who care about climate change and climate justice is a valuable experience, and I think our program sets students up well to make the most of it. They are doing research projects that align with their interests, they collect relevant data, then bring it back home to share. They complete high-quality work that becomes so valuable to them as they go on to graduate school or to pursue their careers.”
