In this episode of UMBC’s Mic’d Up Podcast, we welcome alumna, Natasha Wedderburn ’17 & ’20, MPS Biotechnology & MPS Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Leadership, to chat about weaving an entrepreneurial spirit into science when it comes to the pursuit of a new venture in community gardening and composting in Baltimore City.
There’s a magical vibe that flows when you can weave together something you’re totally passionate about with knowledge gained through applied and focused study. UMBC Alumna Natasha Wedderburn’s story of how she grew an idea born out of passion and turned it into something amazing is inspiring for anyone with a dream to live a life full of purpose.
“I’ve always had a passion and an interest for urban agriculture, farming and gardening, mainly because that’s something that my family did growing up. I wasn’t aware that we lived in a food desert back then. I wasn’t aware that basically, my grandmother grew vegetables and herbs as a way to supplement what we couldn’t afford. It was something that I just absolutely enjoyed doing. And I wondered why can’t I bring that joy to children? If you look in Baltimore City, there are not a lot of grocery stores. You have what is defined as food deserts, which is not having a grocery store within a quarter mile radius of where you live. Fresh food isn’t accessible. So I figured, if we could teach people that they could take some of their food scraps and compost it, you can then use that to grow nutritious food. I think that’s really empowering because you can’t just put a grocery store on every corner. this knowledge offers empowerment. And that’s why I decided to apply to the EIL program. To take the knowledge I gained through the MPS Biotechnology program, and apply it.” – Natasha Wedderburn
Listen to Natasha’s full story!
