Olivia Rose began her journey as a volunteer and community activist raising monarch butterflies at the South End Butterfly Sanctuary, which she co-founded with her mother in 2021. The Sanctuary functions as a Monarch Way Station, which supports monarch populations on their migration path, and also as a green space with a community garden and composting areas.
“My journey basically started with an interest in butterflies, and it led me to realizing some problems within our environment and within society that I myself might have an option to take on,” she said.
Four years after the sanctuary was founded, Rose has contributed as a volunteer to several efforts in Albany and the South End in particular, focused on the environment and combating climate change. This year, she was crowned Miss Teen New York in the Miss Earth USA contest, an international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. And on Monday, Albany County honored Rose with a proclamation recognizing her more than 3,000 hours of community service.
Rose, who is 17 years old and lives in Albany, believes every effort to promote awareness about the environment can make a difference.
“I believe that even taking small steps, like teaching about pollution, teaching about the importance of pollinators, even just raising awareness, will allow us to save ourselves from potential climate change within the future," she said. "As long as everyone is just aware and spends a few minutes to actually care and put something forward.”
Rose is also advocating for the building of a new museum as part of the city of Albany's waterfront revitalization initiative. Her proposal is to build a museum that spotlights the importance of the Hudson River and the waterfront in Albany and New York state history.
"It's sort of a waterfront museum to just explain the story of Albany, to explain the story of the waterfront, as the river is a very important thing as it spans through Albany and most of New York, New York State as well," she said. "So it's kind of just to have that monument or waterfront spot to then just be a beacon to everyone else, to also speak about water quality and other health issues."
Aside from her environmental advocacy, Rose has contributed as a volunteer in the Colonie Youth Court. She is also working to develop an Albany Youth Court.
“I've done a lot of community service through an organization called Youth Court, where I serve as a representative to young people who have committed offenses and help them get that community restitution that they need to re-enter society," she said. "I think that is one of my most important and impactful things that I've done so far that has changed a lot of lives.”
She hopes to inspire fellow young people to get more involved in their community.
“I've met with young school children, and I've taught them about the importance of monarch butterflies and pollination, and seeing how happy they were and their faces when they realized, 'Oh, this is a really cool thing that needs to be protected,' and kind of just being able to inspire other young people, it's been really important to me,” she said.
Rose hopes to pair her environmental conservation efforts with policy work as well, as she is planning to major in political science and environmental studies in college, and eventually become an environmental lawyer. After graduating from her high-school-in-college program, where she is taking classes at Hudson Valley Community College, Rose will intern at the New York State Assembly this summer. She aims to encourage fellow young people to get involved in environmental advocacy and their community overall.
“I would just like everyone to know that don't be afraid to try to do something, even if it's small, any idea that you might have, it might become impactful, it might go nowhere, that's always a possibility, but at least you're trying," she said. "Because as long as you try, there is a chance that something will happen.”
