{"id":1301,"date":"2019-12-09T12:28:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T20:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1301"},"modified":"2025-02-05T07:02:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:02:02","slug":"sustainability-anthropology-graduate-chan-burgos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/sustainability-anthropology-graduate-chan-burgos\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability, anthropology grad finds inspiration amid poverty, disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joshua

Joshua Chan Burgos has some graduation day fun with his biggest fans \u2014 Emily Leyava, his partner; Evelyn Burgos, his mother; Leo Chan, his father \u2014 and of course, OSU\u2019s favorite photobomber.<\/p><\/div>\n

Volunteering with orphans amplified Ecampus alum’s passion to learn and make a difference<\/h2>\n

Inside a classroom in the remote countryside of Central Asia in 2013, in a village where inspiration could be snuffed out at birth, Joshua Chan Burgos was jolted into a new and ambitious sense of what he needed to do.<\/p>\n

Volunteering for a nonprofit, he was surrounded by orphans, some as young as 5. Many were destitute even before they had lost or had been abandoned by their family of birth. Drinking water was scarce; food even harder to come by.<\/p>\n

Amid the poverty, Chan Burgos looked around and saw young faces filled with excitement. He saw children determined to get educated and find a job in a larger town so they could give back to their small communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn entire village put all their money together so one of these kids could go to school,\u201d Chan Burgos told himself.<\/p>\n

Something clicked. He knew his next step was to find a place where he could prepare to put into practice his belief that learning and community-building can occur anywhere on the planet, even in the most challenging of circumstances.<\/p>\n

\"Joshua<\/a>

This article originally appeared as the cover story in the winter 2020 issue of the Oregon Stater alumni magazine. Read it on desktop<\/a> or mobile \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

That his search led him to OSU is evidence of the breadth of Oregon State\u2019s impact in the modern world. The university\u2019s legacy of promoting cultural and environmental progress attracts people who want to tap into Oregon State\u2019s expertise, and OSU Ecampus makes it possible for them to do it from any point on the map without it sacrificing high-quality, transformational academics and mentoring.<\/p>\n

Chan Burgos\u2019 circuitous journey had taken him from Puerto Rico to Hong Kong to Central Asia to Ohio and then Florida, and then to earning two Oregon State degrees online so he could devote his life to creating a healthier planet.<\/p>\n

Along the way, his personal story became part of the always-expanding, always-evolving story of Oregon State University.<\/p>\n

Putting theories into practice<\/h3>\n

Like many students who learn online with OSU Ecampus, Chan Burgos already had a wealth of life experience when he enrolled. His upbringing in Puerto Rico \u2014 born to a Puerto Rican mother and a father from China \u2014 taught him not only the value of service but also the power it wields in building resilient communities.<\/p>\n

He developed an understanding of the environment and his diverse cultural history, which would eventually spur his decision to pursue a double major in sustainability<\/a> and anthropology<\/a> at OSU. He welcomed the opportunity that his Ecampus courses afforded him to refine his intellect, and he came to understand one of the most valuable lessons of all \u2014 that there is a sizable gap between knowing something and being able to put that knowledge to use.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy degree programs forced me to dive deeper into how cultures impact the environment and how the environment, in turn, impacts people\u2019s culture,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I started at OSU, maybe I understood those things on an emotional or psychological level, but now I understand in a way where I can put it into action and create positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research in rural Oregon<\/h3>\n

The notion of knowledge in action presented itself throughout his time as a distance learner. Both of his degree programs required heavy doses of hands-on learning, including sustainability work in Florida\u2019s state parks and on a small organic farm.<\/p>\n

Another opportunity came in September 2017 during OSU\u2019s anthropology ethnographic field school<\/a>. For two weeks in Polk County in Oregon\u2019s Willamette Valley, Chan Burgos immersed himself in a rural community, conducting research and interviewing locals. He was so energized by the experience that he called his mom, Evelyn Burgos, from the Portland airport on his way home to Tallahassee, Florida, to tell her about it.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>What I\u2019ve learned from living and visiting so many places is that community is wherever I am. I learned about community resilience from my parents, but it\u2019s everywhere.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She also had some good news. While Chan Burgos was at the field school, Hurricane Irma \u2014 a category 5 storm \u2014 had only grazed the northeastern part of Puerto Rico. As hurricanes go, this one had been gentle with Chan Burgos\u2019 family home.<\/p>\n

However, she told him, another hurricane was coming, this one called Maria. They shared optimism that it couldn\u2019t possibly be as big of a threat as Irma. They\u2019d soon be reminded that the environment\u2019s impact on a culture can be brutally destructive.<\/p>\n

On an island of his own<\/h3>\n

Chan Burgos\u2019 academic and career trajectory nearly collapsed on Sept. 20, 2017. It was the first day of fall term at OSU. His eagerness to learn was at a peak.<\/p>\n

Then the most destructive storm in Puerto Rico\u2019s history made landfall.<\/p>\n

From their home in Florida, he and his partner, Emily Leyava, helplessly watched news reports as Hurricane Maria devastated his homeland. Flooding and erosion ravaged the island. Lack of access to food and water would eventually contribute to 4,645 deaths, according to a Harvard study completed well after the disaster. A month after the storm, 88% of residents, including his parents, remained without power.<\/p>\n

Chan Burgos tried to manage a full OSU course load online as he shut down emotionally. He felt compelled to quit school, go to Puerto Rico and help.<\/p>\n

\"Joshua

While in Corvallis for last June’s graduation ceremony, Chan Burgos spent an afternoon at OSU’s Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture on campus.<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it dawned on him that he didn\u2019t have adequate training and would probably only get in the way. He leaned on his stateside support system, including his OSU instructors, to help with his anxiety over not going home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned from living and visiting so many places is that community is wherever I am,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned about community resilience from my parents, but it\u2019s everywhere. The support of my professors helped me get through that period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merging worlds<\/h3>\n

Months after taking part in OSU\u2019s June 2019 commencement ceremony in Corvallis, Chan Burgos chuckles in amazement at just how directly he applies what he learned as a student to his new career with the Florida Conservation Corps.<\/p>\n

His job includes ecological restoration projects for Florida\u2019s longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem. As fate would have it, he had taken an Ecampus course on ecological restoration in which he created a mock plan for restoring longleaf pines in a certain tract of Florida.<\/p>\n

And with the big picture always in mind, he taps into his anthropology background in order to blend the natural world with the social.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need people to care about sustainability efforts, and to do that you need to give them a sense of place that\u2019s tied to the land,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to not only restore a certain acreage of these state parks, but we\u2019re also trying to do it in a way where we work together. It\u2019s community restoration, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan Burgos remembers the look of amazement on the faces of the Central Asian orphans when they first saw a little dot representing their village on a map of the world. Rather than be overwhelmed by how much they didn\u2019t know, they were more excited than ever about their chance to learn more.<\/p>\n

The memory of their eagerness to move on and grow their understanding of the world, and to better grasp how they could make a place for themselves in it, is what keeps Chan Burgos moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose young people changed me,\u201d he said. \u201cWatching them work so hard, I knew I couldn\u2019t waste my opportunities to make an impact. There\u2019s still something I can do, and I\u2019m going to do it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Discover more about learning online with nationally ranked Oregon State Ecampus.<\/p>\n

Request information<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 6<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Inside a classroom in the remote countryside of Central Asia in 2013, Joshua Chan Burgos was jolted into a new and ambitious sense of what he needed to do. Volunteering for a nonprofit, he was surrounded by orphans and saw young faces filled with excitement. He saw children determined to get educated so they could give back to their small communities. Something clicked. Chan Burgos knew his next step was to find a place where he could prepare to put into practice his belief that learning and community-building can occur anywhere on the planet. That place was Oregon State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,3,677,8],"tags":[116,374,75,638,641,370],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-features","category-students-and-alumni","category-students","tag-anthropology","tag-college-of-agricultural-sciences","tag-college-of-liberal-arts","tag-conservation-and-natural-sciences","tag-languages-and-liberal-arts","tag-sustainability"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/joshua-chan-burgos-benny-main.jpg?fit=744%2C532&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-kZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1316,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/top-online-degree-programs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1301,"position":0},"title":"Faculty excellence helps OSU earn another top-5 national ranking for online education","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"January 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"For the third time in six years, Oregon State University is ranked as one of America\u2019s five best providers of online education by U.S. News & World Report. 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