Ph.D. student spends his days helping people and the environment
Growing up, Clemson Ph.D. student Keenan Adams preferred playing in the creek, looking at animals, than playing sports. He excelled in both, playing football on scholarship while earning a biology degree at Furman.
His passion for the environment led him to Clemson, where he’s completed an M.S. degree in forestry and is pursuing a Ph.D. in wildlife and fisheries biology. Adams is focusing on the human dimensions of natural resources, which studies the impact people have on the natural world and seeks solutions that benefit both humans and nature.
“I have a strong passion for helping people as well as the environment. I realized that human management is wildlife management,” Adams said. “Human dimensions studies the impact people have on the natural world, and it attempts to find solutions that benefit both humans and nature.”
Adams’ unique role as resident director of Clemson University’s Bridge Program — a freshman admissions cooperative program between Clemson University and Tri-County Technical College — is providing him with real-life experiences in the area of influencing people and shaping their interactions with their personal world.
Whether it is mediating a roommate dispute or having an extensive one-on-one mentoring conversation with a student in his office, Adams feels it is a natural fit for him. He shares the following advice with his students. “First and foremost, be excellent at what you do because if what you do is good, then it will inherently make this world a better place. Second, work in a discipline that you are passionate about and find a career that makes you happy.”
Adams is indeed happy where he is and with his Clemson experience, a place he might have never reached without financial and academic support. His time at Clemson has inspired him to pursue a career in academia.
“My dream is to become a professor who will impact the lives of students and produce research in the natural resource field,” he said. “If I am able to get natural resource managers, policymakers and researchers to consider human dimensions, then I feel I have succeeded.”