Top 10 College Women: The Advocate

Erica Fernandez, 21 Stanford University

Her dream: "To practice environmental law."

Why she's amazing: When Fernandez was 10, her family emigrated from Mexico to Oxnard, California. After air pollution there aggravated her asthma, Fernandez realized the health of humans and that of the environment are connected. So when she heard that a proposed natural-gas pipeline off the coast would further pollute the area—it was estimated the project would annually release carbon dioxide equal to the emissions from more than 48,000 cars—she gave a stirring speech opposing it at the California State Lands Commission. The proposal failed, and Fernandez became an in-demand speaker at green events at age 17. Winner of the Jane Goodall Global Leadership Award, she spent the summer in Mexico fighting deforestation.

Good-luck charm: "When I was a baby, my mom carried me in a rebozo—a shawl. Now I always have one when I speak to remind me that women are powerful at home and in society."