Student Achievements
Environmental Studies and sciences Faculty Award
Awarded to two outstanding graduating seniors, one Environmental Studies major and one Environmental Science major, who, through academic achievement, community engagement, and leadership, demonstrate exceptional promise in addressing environmental issues.
Recipients
- Ruthann Richards, Environmental Science Faculty Award
- Matthew Cocchi, Environmental Studies Faculty Award
- Zoe Pagliaro, Environmental Science Faculty Award
- Isabel Beard, Environmental Studies Faculty Award
- Robbie Heumann, Environmental Science Faculty Award
- Greta Binzen, Environmental Studies Faculty Award
- Carolyn Koestner, Environmental Science Faculty Award
- Rafaela Iturralde, Environmental Studies Faculty Award
- Rebecca Halter, Environmental Science Faculty Award
- Zia O'Neill, Environmental Studies Faculty Award
- Julia Boyer, Environmental Science Track
- Brian Fredericks, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Jordan Stark, Environmental Science Track
- Jenna Frank, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Alexandra Guest, Environmental Science Track
- Sarah Arndt, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Sondra Lipshutz, Environmental Science Track
- Stephanie Seidmon, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Gordon MacPherson, Environmental Science Track
- Adam Schmelkin, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Claire Superak, Environmental Science Track
- Laura Fralich, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Dawn Harfmann, Environmental Science Track
- Nadine Dodge, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
- Hannah Harris, Environmental Science Track
- Bradford Nesbitt, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track
Other Awards, Grants, and Achievements
Ruthann Richards ‘21 received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at Eden’s Rose Foundation, addressing urban food insecurity in Albany.
Jade Bacherman ’22 received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at Save the Bay in Rhode Island, working on marine policy and environmental education.
Katherine Almquist ’24 received a SEE- Beyond Award to work at the Chikaming Township Lakefront Resiliency Plan, focused on minimizing shoreline erosion.
Priscilla Kayku ’24 received a Thorne Award to address environmental sustainability in Ghana with A Rocha Ghana.
Jenny Norcross ’21 was awarded SEF funds to work as a marine conservation and environmental education intern at Malama Maunalua in Hawaii.
Haja Bah ’21 won the McAdams Award and was also awarded a Kenyan Princeton in Africa fellowship to work with the Mt Elgon Ecosystem Trust in Kenya. She also won the President’s Award for Leadership and Service.
Heather Ricker ’22, an ESS minor, won a Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Emily Chase ’22 received an ESS Summer Internship Award to do research and outreach for Gunpowder Waterkeeper in Monkton MD, focusing on clean water and ecosystem protection.
Jess Plotnick ’22 received an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an intern at Oceana, addressing ocean plastic pollution.
Megan Martino ’22 received an ESS Summer Internship Award to work on ocean pollution issues at Seaside Sustainability in Massachusetts.
Eliana Colzani ’22, Morgan McClure ’22, Siddharth Nizamuddin ’21, Emme Tissue ’23, Sage Ganshirt ’22, Olivia Hunt ’23, Mya Carter ’24, Chrstina Lindstrom ’22, Roger Mercado ’22, Sophia Rubien ’22, Jordan Kohomban ’23, and Jess Shulman ‘23 all got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with ESS professors Kurt Smemo and Kris Covey on a variety of soil and forestry projects in Saratoga, the Adirondacks, Tennessee, and Florida.
Chloe Faehndrich ’23, Paige Karl ’23, Finn Weber ’23, and Kara White ’24 all got summer funding to work with ESS professor Karen Kellogg on a wind energy project with the National Renewable Energy Lab.
Brook Heston ’22 got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with ESS professor Nurcan Atalan-Helicke researching Halal food in Albany.
Emily Davis ’23 got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with Chemistry professor Juan Navea, studying the effects of sea spray aerosols on global climate change.
Ruthann Richards ‘21 received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at the Cary Institute on urban ecology. She also won the Barbara Hume Memorial Prize, awarded to an upperclassman each year who has shown personal growth as a result of new interests developed while at Ȧ.
Justine Bolling ’22 received a SEE-Beyond Award to do marine plastics research with Ocean Blue Society.
Lucy Janovitz ’21 received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at Earthwise Aware as a Biodiversity Citizen Science Assistant.
Nicole Barry ’21, an ESS minor, received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at Pitney Meadows Farm.
Kieran Yater ’22 was awarded SEF funds to work at Oceana, working on legislation addressing ocean plastic pollution, seismic airgun blasting, and offshore drilling.
Julia Danielsen ’22 was got an SEF award to work as an environmental educator at Kieve Wavus.
Mateo Schwartz-Torres ’21 was awarded SEF funds to work with No Coal No Gas, a climate activist group in New England.
Chloe Faenhdrich ’23 was awarded SEF funds to do research at Cornell University on harmful algal blooms on Cayuga Lake.
Anna Tiajoloff ’20 was awarded SEF funds to work as an intern with the United Nations.
Abby Grayburn ’20 was awarded SEF funds to work with the land use team of the Manhattan Borough President’s Office. She also worked with a middle school teacher to develop lesson plans on farming and food waste that integrate with their curriculum.
Nick Meconiates ’22, an ESS minor, won an SEF award to work at Seaside Sustainability, doing research and writing grants.
Kate Bjorklund ’20 received an ESS Summer Internship Award to do research and outreach for Miami Waterkeeper, focusing on clean water, sea level rise, and ecosystem protection.
Lily Feldman ’22 received an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an intern at the Wilson Center, a non-partisan international think tank.
Seb Gatton ’20, Siddharth Nizamuddin ’21, Shay Kolodney ’21, Sylvana Szuhay ’22 all got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with ESS professor Kris Covey on a variety of soil and forestry projects in the Adirondacks and in Tennessee.
Jazmin Rendon ‘20 received a SEE-Beyond Award to work with Capital Roots on food access issues.
Haja Bah ’21 received CDC SEF Award to work with the Freetown Mayor Food Delivery Program in Sierra
Leone.
Olivia Berson ‘21 was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an intern with the Earth Day
Network.
Ruthann Richards ‘21 was awarded an NSF REU at the Brooklyn Urban Ecology and Environment Program through
Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
Sam Vanasse ’20, an ESS minor, received an Earthos Institute internship.
Andy Rhodes ’20 was awarded a SEE-Beyond Award to take classes in sustainable architecture at the
Earthship Institute in New Mexico and then to work as an intern at TerraCycle in Philadelphia.
Anna Tiajoloff ‘20 was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as intern at OOLOOP, a sustainable
fashion company.
Parker Heuer ’21 was awarded an SGA RCIA Award to work at FABSCRAP, a fabric-recycling non-profit
in Brooklyn.
Nicol LaCumbre-Gibbs ’20 got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with ESS professor Karen Kellogg
on an energy-efficiency building project.
Jacob Adams ’21, Adam Kaszas ’20, Shay Kolodney ’21, Zoe Pagliaro ’20, and Elle Ping ’21 all got Faculty-Student Summer Research funds to work with ESS professors Kurt Smemo
and Kris Covey on a variety of soil and forestry projects around Saratoga, in the
Adirondacks, and in Tennessee.
Haja Bah ’21
Received an SGA RCIA Award for to work at Medi-Needs, focusing on public health issues
in Sierra Leone.
Isabel Blumenthal ’19
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as a sustainable farming intern
with 9 Miles East Farm.
Ben Crooke ‘21
Was awarded an NSF REU at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, where he used
remote sensing data to research subsidence rates along the Louisiana coast.
Erika Dodge ’20
ESS minor, won an award (?) to work at the Juneau Icefield Research Program.
Olivia Golden ’18
Received an Earthos Institute internship.
Isabella Gukeisen ’20
Was awarded a SEE-Beyond Award to work as an intern at NOAA in Silver Springs MD.
Rafaela Iturralde ’18
Was awarded the Megan Adams-Roldan International Community Service Award to work at
the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature in Quito Ecuador.
Urvi Kalra ’18
Received a SEE-Beyond Award through her MFS minor to work as a Communications and
Media Intern at the Rainforest Alliance in NYC.
Adam Kaszas ’20
Was awarded an SGA RCIA Award to work at the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center,
helping to design a floating wetland to clean up combined sewer overflows in the Hudson
River.
Angelea McPartlin ’18
Received a SEE-Beyond Award to work at the Leo Zoological Conservation Center in CT.
Miary Rasoanaivo ’18
Was awarded a CDC SEF Award to work at Earth’s Last Straw.
Mama Sama ’20
ESS minor, won an SGA RCIA Award to work as an academic mentor and tutor at Ellis
Preparatory Academy.
Finley Tevlin ’18
Received a CDC SEF Award for internships at Capitol Roots and at Front Stoop Pocket
Gardens.
Anna Tiajoloff ’20
Received a CDC SEF Award to work at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space in NYC.
Sam Vogel ’19
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an intern with High Mountain
Adventure in Colorado.
Kate Bjorklund ’20
Was awarded an SGA RCIA award to work in Ghana with Saha Global on global health and
water access.
Julia Cavicchi ’18
Was awarded a SEE-Beyond Award for coursework at ISA, studying indigenous knowledge
and climate change adaptation in the Peruvian Andes.
Tsering Choden ’17
Won the Katherine Scranton Rozendaal Citizenship Award in recognition for her outstanding
citizenship in the Ȧ community and exemplary leadership in contributing to
the quality of Ȧ life.
Rebecca Halter ’17
Received both the Ȧ Tim Brown Scholar Athlete Award and the Ȧ Senior
Scholar Athlete Award.
Rafa Iturralde ’18
Won a SEE-Beyond Award to work at Voice of Nature in New Zealand on sustainable development
and the protection of nature.
Malcolm Kaletsch ’18
Received an ESS Summer Internship Award to work at City Growers rooftop farm in Brooklyn
and take complementary classes on sustainable architecture at Cooper Union.
Urvi Kalra ’18
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an intern with Grameen Foundation
on microfinancing for sustainable development projects.
Angelea McPartlin ’18
Received an SSFIAP award to intern at the Trailside Museums and Zoo.
Sydney Randall ’17
Was awarded summer funding from Quebec-Labrador Foundation to work on community-based
biodiversity conservation.
Miary Rasoanaivo ’18
Was awarded an Earthos Institute internship.
Colleen Sullivan ’17
Was awarded a SEE-Beyond Award to study marine conservation and education at the REEF
Environmental Education Foundation in Cape Cod.
Nate Van Meter ’17
Received an Earthos Institute internship.
Tracey Wingate ’17
Completed the second year of her 2-year Doris Duke Conservation Scholars program at
Northern Arizona University, focusing on sustainable agriculture.
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as an environmental education intern at the Albany Pine Bush.
Isabel Blumenthal '18
Received a CDC Summer Internship Award to work at Dickenson College Farm.
Ben Curell '18
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work as a GIS intern for the Town of Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Olivia Golden '18
Received a CDC Summer Internship Award to work in sustainable, urban agriculture at two internships, with Roots and Wisdom Co-operative Extension and with Radix Ecological Sustainability Center.
Amanda Greenlee '17
Was awarded an ESS Summer Internship Award to work at the Comfort Food Community Garden in Greenwich, NY.
Chris Malvicini '17
Received an SSFIAP award to work at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines.
Helen Mebrate '16
Was awarded an SGA RCIA award to work at the Environmental Science Summer School in Ethiopia.
Miary Rasonaivo '18
Won Ȧ’s SEE-Beyond Award to work with the UN REDD+ Program on protected areas in Madagascar.
Lauren Sidor '17
Was awarded an REU at University of Massachusetts – Boston, working on local fisheries.
Won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, where she will earn an MSc degree in environment and resource management. She plans to specialize in water and climate policy and complete a research project at the Amsterdam Global Change Institute.
Julia Boyer ’16
Won Ȧ’s SEE-Beyond grant to study how elephant feeding behavior influences vegetation community structure in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Emily Cheung ’17
Received an RCIA award to intern at Conservation Fisheries, Inc. of Tennessee, studying aquatic biodiversity.
Tsering Choden ’17
Received a SSFIAP award to work for Childreach Nepal.
Kaelen Clark ’16
Received a Responsible Citizenship Internship Award (RCIA) from Ȧ’s SGA to work at the Community Harvest Project.
Sarah Coburn ’16
Won a 2015 Summer Internship Award to research voluntourism with the Bodhi Surf and Yoga School in Costa Rica.
Jenna Frank ’15
Wrote a successful three-year, $60,000 grant for Yemaya, a women’s organic farming collective in Mexico, from the Blossom Fund, a private foundation that supports the grassroots efforts of women in Latin America.
Jared Herman ’15
Received an RCIA award to work on agroforestry and permaculture with the Borner Green Energy Team in Thailand.
Eliza Hollister ’15
Won a 2015 Summer Internship Award to work at Radix Ecological and Sustainability Center in Albany.
Rafaela Iturralde ’17
Received an RCIA award to work at CEDENMA, the national coordinating entity for environmental NGOs in Ecuador.
Michaela Kerxhalli-Kleinfield ’16
Won a 2015 Summer Internship Award to intern at Saratoga PLAN, a local land trust that preserves open space in Saratoga County.
Charlie Lovejoy ’16
Was awarded an NSF-REU grant to work at Harvard Forest for the summer, researching natural and human disturbance effects on forest ecosystems.
Zia O’Neill ’17
Received an RCIA award to work for Bike and Build Cyclist, riding her bike across the country to raise money for affordable housing groups.
Won Ȧ’s SEE-Beyond grant to work with the sea turtle conservation and research program at Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Fla.
Rebecca Fennel ’15
Won a 2014 ES Summer Internship Award to support her internship at Food Gatherers, a Michigan food bank that rescues food from local grocery stores to deliver to people in need.
Olivia McKee ’16
Won a 2014 ES Summer Internship Award to work with Saratoga PLAN, a local land trust that preserves open space in Saratoga County.
Emily Cheung ’17
Received a RCIA award to intern with the US Forest Service through the Student Conservation Association, working on trails in the Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness area.
Emily Durante ’15
Received a RCIA award to work for the City of Saratoga Springs Planning and Economic Department, helping to implement a pilot bike-share program. Emily also won a national Newman Civic Fellow Award for her work on sustainable transportation, both on campus and in the Saratoga Springs.
Sarah Hoenig ’15
Received a SSFIAP award to intern at the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition in Albany, a non-profit organization focused on environmental health issues.
Won a 2013 ES Summer Internship Award to support her internship at Radix Ecological Sustainability Center in Albany, a center for education on low-cost urban sustainability initiatives.
Norah (Nonie) Crossnohere ’14, 2013
Was funded by SGA’s Responsible Citizenship Internship Award (RCIA) to complete an internship at World Information Transfer, a not-for-profit NGO that consults with the United Nations.
Emily Durante ’15, 2013
Won an award from the RCIA to intern with both the City of Saratoga Springs Planning and Economic Development Department and the Complete Streets Board, working to promote healthy transportation.
Rebecca Fennel ’15, 2013
Received a RCIA award to work at Groundwork Somerville, an organization that works with the Somerville community outside Boston on local sustainability projects.
Josh Inaba ’14, 2013
Won Ȧ’s SEE-Beyond grant to fund his internship at The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, working for the island’s marine program. Josh developed a policy tool to help TNC and its partners establish community-based subsistence fishing areas.
Sondra Lipshutz ’13, 2013
Was awarded a 2013 ES Summer Internship Award to work for the NYC Department of Environmetnal Protection as a Wet Weather Planning Intern with the Bureau of Environmental Planning and Analysis.
Laura Mindlin ’15, 2013
Was funded by Ȧ Summer Funded Internship Awards Program to work at the Food Bank for New York City, an organization fighting to end food poverty in the five boroughs.
Julia Sabatino ’14, 2013
Won a 2013 ES Summer Internship Award to fund her summer research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, investigating the health effects of exposure to the organic solvent toluene.
Aoife Semar ’14, 2013
Won a 2013 ES Summer Internship Award to intern at the Sierra Club, writing blog posts and creating two short films for public outreach.
Eric Stumpf ’13, 2013
Was funded by the Elizabeth Marie Glotzbach Film Industry Award to work with two different film production companies in NYC.
Annie Weis ’14, 2013
Received a RCIA award to intern with Burns and Hammond, a environmental consulting firm, looking at sustainable business practices.
Caitlin White ’14, 2013
Was funded by RCIA to work with Sustainable Ȧ on updating Ȧ’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and creating a sustainability walking-tour brochure.
Was awarded the 2012 Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society undergraduate student paper award for her Honors Forum project, “Building a read food system: the challenges and successes on the college campus.” She also won a 2012 ES Summer Internship Award to continue her work with Real Food Challenge by assessing the Ȧ Murray-Aikins dining hall.
Lauren Bosche ’15, 2012
Won a 2012 ES Summer Internship Award to work with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition in Berkeley Calif.
Jen Harfmann ’14, 2012
An ES minor, was awarded a competitive grant from the Schupf Scholar Program to conduct summer research on nutrient cycling in northern Michigan streams.
Gwyn Harris ’13, 2012
Won Ȧ’s SEE-Beyond grant and spent the summer taking classes and learning sustainable design and architecture at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont.
Eliza Sherpa ’14, 2012
Won an EPA Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Student Fellowship, which provides funding for her junior and senior year of undergraduate study as well as a summer internship at an EPA facility.
Kate Jestin Taylor ’14, 2012
Won a 2012 ES Summer Internship Award to intern as a zookeeper at the Austin Zoo in Texas, where she helped with day-to-day operations.
Korena Burgio, 2011
Environmental studies major, Environmental Science Track
Awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach English in South Korea
starting in July 2011.
Laura Fralich, 2011
Environmental studies major, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track, established Student
Organic Food Garden on campus with funding from the nonprofit Sparkseed and Ȧ's
Responsible Citizenship Task Force.
Sarah Green, 2011
Environmental studies minor won a Fulbright research grant to Argentina to work on
eco-literature.
Kate Ito, 2011
Environmental studies major, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track, and double minor
in geosciences and government. Received the Barnabas McHenry Hudson River Valley Award
to research how a national park designation could affect the Hudson Valley's economic,
environmental, social, and natural institutions. Her findings will be displayed on
OurHudson.org.
Jesse Moy, 2011
Environmental studies major, Environmental Science Track, awarded the interdisciplinary Joseph Garrison Parker Prize for a junior or senior who not only excels in his or her science major but also shows
promise in fine arts and/or music.
Nadine Dodge, 2010
Environmental studies major, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track, won an EPA Greater
Research Opportunities Undergraduate Student Fellowship for $42,000.
Jenna Gersie, 2010
Environmental studies major, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track, won the Joseph
C. Palamountain Jr. Prose Award for an excerpt from Wings and Words: A Field Guide to the Birds of North American Environmental Literature, a senior thesis in environmental literature.
Dawn Harfmann, 2010
Environmental studies major, Environmental Science Track, was a finalist for a Goldwater
Scholarship President's Award.
Ryan Bailey, 2009
Environmental studies major, Social & Cultural Perspectives Track, won a $5,000 fellowship
from the Lewis and Clark College/Mellon Foundation interdisciplinary environmental
research initiative
Erin Kenison, 2009
Environmental studies major, Environmental Science Track, won the Best Student Poster
Presentation Award at the Northeast Natural History Conference X for Friendship is Wasted on Invasive Japanese Knotweed with Peter Liepzig-Scott; Research experience: biology and conservation of poison
dart frogs in Costa Rica.
Peter Liepzig-Scott, 2009
Environmental studies major, Environmental Science Track, won Best Student Poster
Presentation Award at the Northeast Natural History Conference X for Friendship is Wasted on Invasive Japanese Knotweed with Erin Kenison
Allison Ruschp, 2009, Sheridan Reuter, 2009 and Caitlin Frame, 2010
Environmental studies majors (Capstone 2009), established a rain garden on campus
with funding from Ȧ Student Opportunity Funds and Brookside Nursery and a collaboration
with the Saratoga County Intermunicipal Stormwater Program.
Sara Lacy, 2008
Environmental studies minor, was a 2008 sustainable energy fellow and a Duke University
Summer Energy Fellowship attendee.