Gabby Salazar '09.5 was in Great Smoky Mountains National Park when she got the call this June.
At first, she thought it was an emergency, she said. "Why is my dad calling at 3 p.m. and has to talk to me now?" she recalled thinking.
It turned out that Salazar's father was calling to tell her that Glamour magazine had named her one of its top-10 college women of the year.
Salazar won for her dedication to nature photography and for founding Nature's Best Photography for Kids, now known as Nature's Best Photography Students, a national magazine for students ages 12 to 21 that features their writing and photography. The magazine had readers in 19 different countries as of Sept. 7, Salazar said.
"Photography is my artistic release," said Salazar, who has been shooting pictures since she first picked up a camera at the age of 11. "That's my time when I completely give up my control over things and I just let go."
Salazar said that unlike some environmentalists who want to do away with technology entirely, she accepts that it has become a part of our lives. She wants to use technology like cameras to get kids to explore nature, she said.
"A while ago, conservation photography was very focused on photographing trash and landfills and animals covered in oil," Salazar said. "A lot of people get overwhelmed by that."
Salazar's work attempts to advocate conservation by focusing on natural beauty to develop childrens' love and appreciation of nature rather than bombarding them with images of its destruction.
"A kid can fall in love with a tree in their backyard, fall colors, flowers, ants, things that exist right around them," Salazar said. By cultivating an appreciation for nature, children would be more likely to be emotionally invested in the issue and take a stand if a bill is proposed to develop an area, she said.
Although the magazine was founded in 2007 as a print publication for children, Salazar and Nature's Best have had to refine its format and direction.
In the past nine months the magazine had not been selling well as a print magazine, Salazar said, since many schools did not have room in their budgets to subscribe.
On Aug. 15, the magazine redesigned its Web site, www.naturesbeststudents.com, to be a free online magazine, eliminating the need for a version printed at the expense of the environment. Issues are released six times a year, and the format of the site allows readers to turn the pages virtually, thereby maintaining the feel of a print magazine.
The online magazine is highly interactive, allowing readers to submit their writing and photos online and featuring student blogs and videos of Salazar and other contributors.
Salazar applied to Glamour magazine's contest after she saw an issue in the Brown admissions office and joked with one of her professors about applying.
"It's a great way to get your cause recognized by a broader audience," Salazar said. Laughing, she added that the prospect of the $3,000 scholarship didn't hurt either.
All of Glamour magazine's winners have an "incredible connection and passion" for their work, said Wendy Naugle, health deputy editor at Glamour magazine.
Now 21 years old, Salazar serves as a role model for other youths as the founder and editor of a national magazine, Naugle said.
"We are always passionately inspired by the women we select," Naugle said. "We're awestruck by how much they've already done by the age of 20, 21, 22. It really makes you want to strive to do a little bit better."
Salazar spent this past weekend in New York City at Glamour magazine with the other winners.
Naugle said the winners explored the city and attended conferences with a network of professionals. "They (spent) time with top people in a variety of fields - business, politics, medicine, science, journalism."
Salazar said she appreciated the opportunity to come together and talk about women's issues.
Some of the presenters discussed balancing career and family, Salazar said. "We all really want to have high-power careers and have change in the world," she said. "I think what we came away with was, you can have it all but you can't have it all at the same time."
Salazar chose to take time off from school last semester to focus on the magazine, working at the magazine's office in Washington, D.C. and traveling to Honduras, Ecuador and Costa Rica, but for now she is editing the magazine from her room off-campus.
She plans to continue working with the magazine after graduation, but not past the age of 23, she said, because she wants the magazine's editor to have a connection with the magazine's young audience. Salazar said that when she decides to leave, the magazine will hire another young editor, probably also a college student.
As for herself, Salazar said she would like to work abroad and explore some of her other interests, particularly issues relating to maternal health.
"It really hit me how much of an environmental issue (maternal health) is," Salazar said, a connection she realized when she and the other winners visited the United Nations Population Fund during their weekend in New York.
Naugle said that in the 51-year history of the magazine's contest, many of its winners, whose ranks include Martha Stewart and Kate White, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, have gone on to pursue successful careers.
"We believe these are the women who will be leading in the next 10, 15, 20 years," Naugle said. "It's clear that they don't take 'No' for an answer and are going to continue with their trailblazing and make the world a better place for all of us."
