Nazibah Nazia Chowdhury | নাজিয়া

Raised in San Bernardino, California, Nazia (xe/her) is a first-generation Bangali-American whose wilderness passions stem from her grandfather’s soil science research across the Ganges Delta, to her high school trailblazing days in the PCT. Equipped with a McLeod fire tool and nowhere near enough sunscreen, Nazia ventured to San Diego, where her work as an administrative intern with Tree San Diego, San Diego Parks and Recreation, and the Balboa Park Conservancy sparked her interest in urban forestry and identifying social barriers to accessing the natural world.

The pandemic erupted in the middle of her undergraduate career. Amidst street sweeps and the swell of the Black Lives Matter movement, Nazia found an organizing home as a bilingual intake rep, working with Asian Americans Advancing Justice to help undocumented immigrants navigate financial relief while addressing deep inequities faced by marginalized communities following the impacts of COVID-19.

After earning her bachelor's in political science from UC Berkeley, Nazia joined the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network as its inaugural Communications Manager. Fighting alongside fellow queer and trans immigrant activists, Nazia worked to secure equitable health care access and unemployment insurance for all Washingtonians. Nazia hopes to continue her journey with Outdoor Asian in understanding the root causes of migration, cultivating consciousness of the environment's relationship with public health, and fostering respect for indigenous stewardship of native lands; all while hanging out with cool people in the wild. In her free time, she loves to cook, paint, and play badminton.