Outstanding wildlife graduate overcomes trauma

After a traumatic accident a little over a year ago in which she struck by a vehicle while biking, Griselda Landa-Posas, a Colorado State University student and leader in her university’s TWS student chapter, is already back to hiking and conducting field work.  She will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology this month.

Landa-Posas was biking to work in August 2018 when she was hit and thrown into a guard rail, landing on a barbed wire fence. She suffered a concussion, broke her leg in 10 places, fractured her right hip, and suffered deep cuts in her arm and leg.

Landa-Posas continues to bike and conduct field work after a traumatic event. ©Colorado State University

After undergoing five surgeries and eventually attending physical rehabilitation and later moving in with her parents, Landa-Posas had to take a semester off from school. But after that semester, she returned to continue working toward her wildlife degree.

“I realized I’m a lot stronger [than I thought], since it was months of so much pain, combined with uncertainty about my future,” she told Colorado State University. “Now, I feel so grateful. There was this moment where I thought I would never be able to do field work and carry a heavy pack again. Knowing that maybe those were all things I’d have to change was a really scary thing to go through.”

But with her own strength and support from her CSU family, which she had given a lot to while she was well, Landa-Posas overcame this obstacle. At CSU, she served as assistant director of environmental affairs for the Associate Students of Colorado State University, held leadership positions in the student chapter of The Wildlife Society and the Society of Conservation Biology, and more. She also was a part of several Bioblitz events, in which she volunteered to visit national parks and other areas to count as many species as possible.

Landa-Posas returned to biking and conducting field work this past summer. After she graduates this month, she plans to join the Peace Corps.