Greatest Hits

Here is a collection of my most influential experiences:

Research: Climate Change Impacts on Spring Wildflower Blooming Phenology in Pine Hill Arboretum, Pennsylvania

As a senior at Dickinson, I conducted research looking at wildflower bloom times in an arboretum in central Pennsylvania. We compared our observed bloom dates of Spring 2018 to unpublished historical records from the arboretum, with earliest bloom date entries for hundreds of species from 1935-1945. We observed about 50% of Spring wildflowers opened earlier than the historical averages, despite a relatively cold Spring. This study is to continue for several years with the hope of implicating climate change as the source of disturbance. Because we plan to publish this research, it cannot be made available here, but please contact me to discuss it further.

Baird Sustainability Fellows

The Baird Sustainability Fellows program recognizes graduating seniors who have advanced sustainability goals on or beyond the Dickinson campus through excellence in scholarship, leadership and service. This college-wide honor, named for Spencer Fullerton Baird, a prominent naturalist of the 19th century and Dickinson alumnus and professor.

Earning recognition as a Baird Sustainability Fellow is a highly selective process. Those that met the rigorous standards of the honor are invited to participate in the program, which includes the half-credit interdisciplinary Baird Honors Colloquium in spring and serve as a spokesperson and leader for sustainability at Dickinson College. Upon completion of the Colloquium and service requirements, program participants will earn recognition as Baird Sustainability Fellows.

Selection of candidates, and award of the Baird Sustainability Fellow honor, is decided on the following criteria:

Attainment of advanced level sustainability competencies and dispositions through academic work, practice and a scholarly, extracurricular, creative or service project.
Evidence of a substantial scholarly or service project of exceptional quality, significance and impact that is related to sustainability.
Demonstrated leadership in advancing sustainability goals of a campus or community group or project.
High scholastic achievement, as evidenced by a 3.4 or higher GPA.
Character and behavior that exemplify the values of civic responsibility, environmental stewardship, social justice and global perspective.

As a Baird Fellow, my peers and I reflected on our time at Dickinson and how we became who we are today. We explored different aspects of sustainability including political, social, and environmental, and how to use them effectively. During the semester, I worked on an awareness campaign for proper waste disposal on campus, attended the Citizens' Climate Lobby conference in Washington D.C., and explored my sustainability worldview.

European Biodiversity Excursions

While abroad in Bremen in 2016-2017, I had to opportunity to travel with the University of Bremen Ecology Department twice to explore biodiversity in Europe.

The first trip in February was to observe the geese migrations in the Netherlands. It was astounding to see millions of geese all feeding together in miles of open fields. We identified different species, although difficult since if you drove too close one would spook and fly up, causing a ripple effect for miles, and looked for banded geese to report. At dusk, we stood on a dyke and watched the geese as they flew over our heads to spend the night on the water.

The second trip was a course that focused on the ecology of the Giant Mountains of Poland and Czech Republic. We spent three days in a very small agrotourism town, Kopaniec, just a few miles from the base of the mountain range. There I collected and identified 30 wildflower species and created a herbarium. I had done a similar project in a class the previous year and it was very rewarding to replicate it on my own and in a new environment. We spent the next three days backpacking through the Karkonoski National Park and investigating the various ecosystems and biodiversity. This portion of the trip was very trying for me, but I look back on it as one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

Internship: Center for Sustainability Education

The summer after my first year at Dickinson, I interned for the Center for Sustainability Education on campus. During this time, I worked on several projects to help further sustainability on campus and in the community. I developed skills such as effective communication, problem resolution, graphic design, individual and team organization, and data organization and analysis in Excel. My favorite project with distinct outcomes was inventorying the waste collection areas on campus. This included all of the areas where trash was collected, such as dumpsters or roll-away bins. The inventory identified a surplus of landfill receptacles and a need for recycling receptacles, a disproportionate system we were trying to correct in other ways as well. This report was given to different bodies within the college and led to a new recycling contract that included recycling dumpsters placed at areas of large volume, such as dorms and academic buildings.