“My education helped me see the world as an open space with no limitations and to be truer to myself,” said science graduate Heather Levi Podoll, pictured here with her daughter Catherine.

Developing consciousness is key to solving environmental problems
by Maharishi University of Management Alumni Brochure
9 April 2012

An interest in ecology and earth sciences brought biology graduate Heather Levi Podoll a prestigious $70,000 National Science Foundation graduate fellowship. With this, Heather completed a master’s degree in soil ecology at the University of California.

While at Maharishi University of Management, Heather was a leader of the students’ environmental organization, and received a travel grant to study ecology in Ecuador.

She saw that, while many people become discouraged about solving environmental problems, “Here at Maharishi University of Management we have a different view—that these problems are very real, but the solution is just as real. Developing consciousness, so that people will naturally make decisions that are life-supporting for themselves and their environment, is the ultimate solution. We don’t have to become completely lost in all the chaos.”

With a wide network of colleagues and contacts in her field, Heather’s interest in environmental solutions is flourishing, along with family life—2 1/2-year-old Catherine, pictured with her mother, now has a baby sister Clare Chandra.

© Copyright 2012 Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA