Valentine Falsetta

Valentine Falsetta is a senior from Southbury, Connecticut pursuing a degree in Environmental Engineering. Growing up with a land trust right down the street, Val spent much of their childhood exploring the trails, ponds, and cliffs of Connecticut. Involvement with their scouting organization and volunteering for the land trust taught them the importance of environmental stewardship. Val continued this commitment at UConn as a part of EcoHouse Learning community by volunteering for Spring Valley Student Farm, gaining hands-on involvement with sustainable agriculture practices and green energy. This summer as an intern with Fuss and O’Neill, Val traveled across the state, investigating properties for soil and groundwater contamination. This semester, Val is excited to be supporting the Town of Redding, Connecticut in writing a Brownfield Cleanup Grant, which if awarded would support Redding in the environmental remediation and redevelopment of their community. They are also excited to be embarking on a year-long Senior Design project where they will explore technologies that will help to remediate PFAS, so-called “forever-chemicals,” contaminated soil and groundwater. On campus, Val TAs for the College of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is a trip leader for UConn Recreation’s Outdoor Adventure Center, supporting participants on trips ranging from day hikes to ice climbing. In their free time, Val can be found biking, thrifting, hiking local trails, and climbing with friends. After graduation, Val hopes to contribute to the mission of the CT DEEP and the EPA in combating climate change and environmental injustice as caused by its disproportionate effects on marginalized populations. As a COP28 Fellow, Val is looking forward to learning from scientists, engineers, and survivors regarding issues of environmental emergency response and relief and the shortfallings and injustices that result from our current systems.