Climate science and creative writing student Cassidy Ochoa hopes to tell the story of our changing planet
Cassidy Ochoa
By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - June 12, 2025
Cassidy Ochoa’s fascination with the sky began on a snowy morning in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2008. A rare blizzard had swept through the area, nearly causing her school bus to crash. As the snowflakes swirled outside the frosted windows, Ochoa, then just a child, found herself fascinated with the intense snow falling down. That moment sparked a lifelong curiosity about the atmosphere and the forces that shape our climate.
But Ochoa’s story isn’t just one of science; it’s also one of writing and communication. Even in elementary school, she was already weaving tales of dragons and folklore, using writing as a creative outlet. Her early passion led her to the Oregon Writing Festival at Portland State University, where she showcased her handmade books and zines and by middle school, she had discovered slam poetry and began performing across the Portland metropolitan area in poetry summits.
In high school, Ochoa became the editor of Dam Mag, Beaverton High School’s literary magazine, a role she held for three years. She collaborated with writers and visual artists to pair fiction and nonfiction stories, as well as poetry, with illustrations, deepening her appreciation for the intersection of art and expression.
When Ochoa arrived at Oregon State University's Honors College, she brought both her scientific curiosity and her creative spirit. Majoring in climate science at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS), she dove into the study of meteorology, atmospheric trends, and the long-term impacts of climate change on communities. But she also pursued a minor in writing, where she found some of her favorite classes, including workshops that allowed her to receive feedback and refine her voice.
Through PRAx’s Art + Science Fellowship, Ochoa crafted a sci-fi novella, titled Weathermakers, set in a world called Squallstrom, where the main character, known simply as “the pilot,” navigates a water-stricken world managed by human-generated weather. The sun’s appearance and the wind’s arrival are orchestrated spectacles, and during a prolonged drought, the little water available is funneled into weather-making machines. The pilot is torn between loyalty to authority and a desire to help the people suffering from water scarcity.
“I was inspired by Andy Weir’s The Martian to look at themes of power, rebellion, and resource management that echoed real-world climate challenges,” said Ochoa. “Writing gives me a different kind of energy. It helps me communicate complex ideas and connect with people in a way that data alone can’t.”
Her scientific work is just as compelling. For her Honors College thesis, Ochoa explored how cyclone frequency and intensity are affected by climate interventions like sun shades, giant reflectors that may redirect sunlight away from Earth. Using three distinct data sets (pre-industrial CO₂ levels, a scenario with quadrupled CO₂, and one with sun shades), she discovered that while sun shades significantly reduced cyclone formation in the Global South, they also caused increases in other regions.
“Deploying sun shades into Earth’s atmosphere may be somewhat fanciful and not be economically feasible,” she noted, “but, at this point, we need to be exploring every possible solution .”
In the summer of 2024, Ochoa interned at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, analyzing plant root metabolites and after graduating in 2025, she’ll return to the public sector by interning at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she’ll study hydrology and drought detection. After the summer with NASA, Ochoa will pursue a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at University at Albany. Her dream? To work with organizations like the UN, NASA, or NOAA, using her unique blend of science and storytelling to communicate climate issues to broader audiences.
“I want to tell the stories that often go unheard in climate science,” Ochoa said. “To help people better understand how our planet works and why it matters.”