Volunteer Spotlight: Naz Beykan GSD ‘13

Naz Beykan returned to her hometown of Istanbul after graduating from the Graduate School of Design in 2013 with a Master’s Degree in Design Studies: Energy and Environments. Since then, she has been working as an individual consultant on areas ranging from climate resilience to green buildings with organizations such as the World Bank Group and UNDP.

As a child, Naz had an intense attachment to animals and was fascinated by the nature she witnessed on the walks her parents took her on through the woods. At the age of 3 she decided to become a zoologist, but as a young adult she realized she was more of an urban dweller and thereby found herself in architecture school focusing on sustainable design.

On her first day of orientation at the GSD, Naz watched Richard T.T. Forman take the stage to talk about landscape ecology with a passion so contagious that in that moment she felt the same excitement she felt as a young girl strolling through the woods suddenly reemerge.

Naz has dedicated her career to working on projects which address climate change and promote climate action. She is part of the Climate Research Association, an NGO based in Turkey, and in her personal life she chooses to not own a car, eat a plant-based diet, invest in energy and water efficiency measures in her own home, and try her best to be a conscientious consumer.

“I believe Harvard is uniquely positioned to address the climate crisis, and HACE is the necessary catalyst for action. Many alumni hold key roles across pivotal organizations in both the public and private sector, have a high level of technical expertise and knowledge, and maintain vast global networks of influential individuals and institutions. Together, we can trigger meaningful change. Specifically, I would like to position HACE as an incubator for collaboration across disciplines and institutions in order to raise awareness, boost action, and generate impactful projects with a global reach. I hope everyone will help make this a reality so we can ensure a healthy and inhabitable planet for all.”