Career Insights: Samira Amos Shares Her Experience at Biovision
Samira Amos is an outdoors enthusiast who enjoys participating in climate and feminist activisim, and who works in the agroecology sector in Switzerland. She attended the STP Master‘s program from 2020 to 2023 with a minor in Environment and Resources. She previously studied Environmental Science at ETH focusing on coupled human-environment systems, completed an internship in Tanzania on agroecology, and also worked at Agroecology Works! during her studies.
Why I studied Science, Technology and Policy
I wanted to focus more on policy because that's what I always wanted to do and luckily do now professionally. I had always had this idea that I am good at math and numbers so I should attend ETH but discovered that what I am passionate about is more so the policy and the activism work. So the Master's in Science, Technology and Politics was the perfect way to combine my background in natural science with my passion.
I really liked the idea of having people with a diverse background together and exchanging information while in a small cohort of 15-20 people. Still today, part of our cohort meets up every Tuesday to catch up! I also appreciated the flexibility in being allowed to take all the courses I was passionate about, so I was able to better discover my interests.
What I'm up to today
I work at a non-governmental organization (NGO) called external page Biovision. We promote sustainable and socially just agriculture, which we call external page agroecology. Biovision is involved in project work or at political level in East African countries, in Switzerland and internationally. Since 2019, they have a external page Swiss policy Programme that works on changing the food policy locally, and I work on this three-person team.
On one hand, I work with grassroots organizations or practitioners who are agroecological and want to change the current food system. These include not only innovative farms but also businesses from, among others, the gastronomy, education, or processing sectors. By documenting and bringing them into the spotlight in our communication, we try to cultivate a narrative that change is possible, and change is happening. After all, nothing is as convincing as an idea that works in practice.
On the other hand, we advocate at the political level for better policies for agroecology. For this purpose, we work in alliances with other organizations that share our vision to gain a stronger voice. One such alliance is the Swiss network external page Agroecology Works! which – next to working on a political level - also hosts an annual event series called the external page Days of Agroecology. Throughout October, various organizations and passionate individuals across Switzerland will offer a diverse program showcasing their visions and projects for agroecology, from knowledge exchanges and farm cooking events to dances in the hayloft.
Last, we organize various participatory processes. For example, in 2022 we organized a national citizens’ assembly on food policy, where 80 citizens from all over Switzerland with different political backgrounds, ages, education came together to discuss what the future of agriculture and food should look like. The citizens then write policy recommendations to give to parliament.
My tip for students in their job search
My main tips are don’t force it, let it happen, do what you like, and follow your values. I think if you're excited about something, people want you to make something out of it.
Make connections in work that you are passionate about. Through my internship and work during my studies, I helped to organize the Days of Agroecology where I was able to meet almost a hundred organizations in Switzerland working on food and agriculture. Biovision, the company I now work at, was one of the participating organizations. I really liked the people and felt that they shared the same values as me, which ultimately led to my current position. But also: don't stress, it will all work out fine in the end 😊