Syaza Soraya Sauli is a visiting scholar from Malaysia who earned a prestigious Merdeka Award for International Attachment from her government to enable her international travel and study. The award "nurtures the promising talents of Malaysians under the age of 35" and "supports these individuals in their quest for excellence but also serves as a catalyst for innovation and a facilitator of international collaboration."

After reading about Professor Julie Ernst's "Flourishing in Nature" research on the impacts of nature on child development, Syaza decided to use her award to come to UMD to learn more about the burgeoning field of childhood nature studies.

During Syaza's three-month stay, she worked with Ernst and visited many schools and nature preschools in the Duluth area. Syaza says has been able to “experience a lot of awesome and beautiful things" in Duluth and feels ready to take lessons learned back to her country to apply them. 

Her goal is to develop a quality, nature-based learning module for preschools in Malaysia. It's an approach that supports healthy child development and instills a sense of responsibility to the environment.

The long-term goal is to empower future leaders to solve imminent environmental problems and build more sustainable communities. "I don’t want to be someone who sees, hears, but does nothing. At least we take some small actions from home, school, in early childhood education ... to shape our own generations in the future," she says.

Syaza shares more about her UMD experience.