UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sofia Hoffman has dreams of a career that will take her around the world — and thanks to her time at Penn State, it’s off to a good start.
Hoffman, a third-year student studying environmental systems engineering and minoring in geography, spent her summer in Ecuador helping test for oil pollution and contamination in the Amazon rainforest.
Ecuador is the fourth largest South American oil producer, with oil reserves located in biodiverse hot spots of the Amazon rainforest. Historically, extraction has been plagued with deficient industrial standards, particularly in off-the-grid extractive sites, according to Hoffman.
“I’m from Argentina and I was really looking to work anywhere in South America,” Hoffman said. “So, when I learned about what was happening in Ecuador and that I could get involved with this Penn State research project, it was exactly what I wanted to do. This is what I see myself doing in the future, and I’m excited to see where the research goes.”
Hoffman is working with Belén Noroña, assistant professor of geography, and Rachel Brennan, professor of environmental engineering, on the project, “Protecting the Amazon rainforest from oil exploitation: combining indigenous body-territory epistemology with environmental monitoring to empower local conservation efforts.”
The project, funded by a Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment seed grant, combines Indigenous knowledge of the forest with science to better understand the distribution of pollution and its consequences to biodiversity and local Indigenous communities.
“We’re trying to put together a portfolio of how much contamination is happening and where,” Hoffman said. “And we are using a method called body-territory mapping that understands Indigenous bodies as a material fabric intertwined with the forest, which allowed us to better locate of major sites of pollution.”
Hoffman said working with Indigenous communities allows scientists to collaborate with Indigenous people, adding to existing grassroots struggles while honoring local knowledge. The researchers tested water and soil samples to monitor levels of petroleum hydrocarbons and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a pollutant that does not easily break down in the environment.
“If you and I were walking through the forest and we see a plant, it’s just a plant,” Hoffman said. “But Indigenous people in this area can see it and say whether it can be used for medicine or to build things. At the end of the day, working with them allows us to learn from them.”
In addition to her time in Ecuador, Hoffman spent the 2024 spring semester studying in Singapore. Hoffman, a Millennium Scholar, was inspired by a friend and mentor in the program who had previously traveled to Singapore for a Maymester class.
“Since I was young, my parents would prioritize traveling and learning from different cultures outside of textbook learning,” Hoffman said. “I knew when I came to Penn State that studying abroad was super important for me.”
Hoffman said she greatly benefited from getting out of her bubble and seeing new perspectives from students and faculty at the National University of Singapore.
"It was by far one of the best experiences in my life,” she said. “It aligned perfectly with my personal and professional interests. Singapore's emphasis on sustainability and improving human health invigorated my pursuit of environmental engineering research."
Hoffman said she hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in environmental engineering. She said her time abroad and especially in the Millennium Scholars program at Penn State helped her discover a love for research.
She is particularly interested in collaborating with communities being affected by issues like pollution to make sure they have a seat at the table in policy decisions.
“I think it's so important to be able to be worldly, and I feel like sometimes it's so easy to stick in our bubble,” Hoffman said. “Addressing environmental engineering issues related to climate change and sustainability is going to be a global effort. So, being able to have global connections and learning how different countries and communities deal with issues may help us achieve more successful results.”