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Dear ESS Friends,
What a year 2017/18 has been! We are over the moon proud of the accomplishments of our students. Besides our Rhodes Scholar, Sean Reilly, ESS had a Fulbright Hat Trick! Three – yes three – of our students applied for and received Fulbrights: Marisa Rudolph to Ghana, Erika Francks to Lesotho, and Lauren Cloward to Burkina Faso. We also had success with the highly competitive Udall Fellowship. Of our four departmental applicants, James Wang received the grant and Efren Oxlaj Tambito received an Honorable Mention. Our soon-to-be graduates have many exciting plans for next year. To relieve the anxiety of parents who wonder what Environmental Studies and Sciences majors might do after graduation, we’ve asked our students to highlight their plans. From graduate school to working abroad, ESS students are making their mark in the world.
While we are so happy for our students, it is with mixed feelings that we say goodbye to John Farnsworth and Joanna Ahlum. John will be sailing to an island off the coast of Washington, writing his next book. Joanna is relocating to Wyoming where she will be teaching for the Teton Science Schools. Good luck to both of you—you will be missed!
Finally, a big thank you to those of you who donated during the Day of Giving or throughout the year. Your donations make a big difference for our students. This year alone, we were able to send one student to the American Geological Union conference in New Orleans. We are currently planning to use $3000 from our gift fund to match stipends for student internships. Many students work for non-profits that are not able to pay interns. As we grow our gift fund, we are hoping to increase the amount we allocate to student internships.
I know I can say from all of our ESS faculty and staff, it is a pleasure and an honor to teach such motivated, inspiring, and fun students!
Leslie Gray
Department Chair
Environmental Studies and Sciences |
