For Antonio Lacayo ’07 of Managua, Nicaragua, public service is a family tradition. For decades his grandfather led pro-democracy opposition to Nicaragua’s dictatorial government through journalism. His grandmother, Violeta Barrios de Charmorro, served as Nicaragua’s president in the 1990s. Both his parents work for nongovernmental organizations there — his father for an entrepreneurship development organization, and his mother carrying on the journalistic work of her parents. Lacayo himself plans to work in sustainable development, and one of his ideas is to help introduce biofuels to his country.

A civil and environmental engineering major, Lacayo studied environmental issues as they relate to social justice in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where he earned a certificate. “I’ve always wanted to work to help Nicaragua,” he says. “Engineering gives me the chance to apply academics to the real world. Studying policy at Princeton taught me that environmental stewardship is a type of social justice for future generations.”

Throughout his years at Princeton, Lacayo also focused on global issues outside the classroom. He raised awareness through the Princeton chapter of Oxfam, the Global Issues Forum and the International Relations Council. He helped the International Service Initiative bring its proposals for service opportunities abroad before the Undergraduate Student Government.

In 2005 he won the International Service Award for organizing a Habitat for Humanity project that built five houses for impoverished families in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. During a summer internship in the same area the next summer, he developed a plan proposing alternative fuel sources for area brick makers whose illegal use of firewood threatened nearby forests.

For his senior thesis, Lacayo developed a plan for Nicaragua to increase sugar cane production in order to export ethanol to the United States. In the short term, ethanol production would benefit Nicaragua’s economy and provide jobs for many. Over time, the United States’ dependence on foreign oil would be reduced and its environmental impact lessened.

Research for the thesis took Lacayo to Brazil, where sugarcane ethanol production is well established. While in South America, he also took time to backpack through five countries, meeting Princeton friends all along the way. “Princeton’s campus is oriented in such a way that people easily make friends,” he says. “I didn’t need to be proactive because between the residential colleges, dining hall, library and my eating club, it just happened. People are passionate, and I always learned something from them.”

“Princeton has given me an attitude of initiative and self-confidence through lots of activities and its focus on undergraduates,” observes Lacayo. “I have gained a sense of independence and this has helped me combine my summer work, extracurricular life and academic studies to work toward my goals.”