Stacy Villegas

Stacy Villegas works at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health, where her responsibilities include communicating with program associates, collaborating with faculty, setting up meetings, creating curriculum, and developing courses to embed planetary health education across the university. She conducts course landscape analyses to identify relevant courses and builds networks with students and faculty. Villegas earned her Bachelor's of Science in Public Health from the University of Maryland and her Master's in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2023. She became a certified yoga instructor in 2020, which supports her ability to balance her professional work with her small business, Swap Season, that hosts clothing swap events promoting sustainable fashion. Villegas attributes her success to her immigrant parents who instilled values of hard work and motivation, as well as her spirituality through yoga. She advises utilizing and nourishing professional networks while following one's purpose and heart. In her field, she notes challenges such as political influences on climate progress and climate anxiety, alongside opportunities like collaborating with brilliant faculty and engaging in global events such as New York City Climate Week.