Camper Spotlight - Zahra - Flying and the Environment

By Emma Sophia -
Summit Camper Has a Passion for Aviation
By Emma Sophia


Zahra is a rising high school senior from Salisbury, North Carolina who is in the Environmental Education through Theater focus group at camp. 


Previously, she has been part of her middle school's Green Team; the Green Team is a recycling program at her school that she says is not taken very seriously by teachers and students.


Last fall, things for Zahra changed when she took AP Environmental Science. In the class she learned more about environmental issues and realized that there is a lot of help and change that needs to happen in the world, and she wants to be part of that change.


Zahra also has a passion for aviation. Flying is something she has loved for a long time, and just this past year, she got her pilot license for her birthday. Because of her love for flying, she has long dreamed of being an aeronautical engineer. Now that she also pays more acute attention to environmental issues, she struggles with the fact that airplanes cause a lot of pollution. The ones she usually flies use from 5 to 10 gallons per hour.



To deal with that issue, Zahra has decided that she wants to look into majoring in Aviation Environmental Science at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the only place that offers that major. She got the idea when talking to people who deal with AeroFusion, an additive to airplane fuel that improves efficiency and decreases CO2 emissions. She is very excited about one day making flying more environmentally friendly



 

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