2009 Woolley Fellowship

March 23, 2009

The Center for International Education (CIE) at Washington and Lee University has announced the recipients of the 2009 Woolley Fellowships, provided through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Woolley in honor and memory of their son, Erik.

Each fellowship provides up to $3,000 toward travel and living expenses to support an educational internship experience overseas. Proposals must demonstrate how projects will prepare students better for deeper global engagement, foster learning within an international professional practice and deepen students’ understanding of another culture.

Gaby Bucheli of Quito, Ecuador, will be interning in Manaus, Brazil, working on a project that examines the economic valuation of the environmental impact of oil extraction procedures. A member of the W&L class of 2011, Bucheli will be working with a multinational and multidisciplinary group of professionals from the fields of economics and geology, including Professor Jim Kahn, professor of economics and Director of Environmental Studies at Washington and Lee.

Environmental Studies Fellowship Position

Dr. Laura Henry-Stone has been awarded a grant for a two year post doctoral fellowship position in Environmental Studies at Washington and Lee University. Funding for the position is being provided by a grant to the Associated Colleges of the South by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Dr. Henry-Stone’s role will be to enhance the treatment of sustainability in the Environmental Studies curriculum and to further integrate the environmental studies program with our other interdisciplinary programs, such as the Shepherd Program in Poverty and Human Capability, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the Women’s Studies Program, and the African-American Studies Program.

Mackenzie Brown Inducted Into Omicron Delta Kappa

Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society founded at W&L in 1914, held its annual inductions as part of the convocation ceremony.  ODK was the first college honor society of a national scope to give recognition and honor for meritorious leadership and service in extracurricular activities and to encourage development of general campus citizenship.

Mackenzie Elise Brown of Kingwood, W.Va, ‘09, Environmental Studies major, along with twenty-six other students, both law and undergraduate, as well as two local community members were inducted at the convocation on Monday, Jan 19, at 11:45 a.m. in Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University.

2009 Earle Bates Prize Winners

The 2009 Earle Bates Prize in Environmental Studies has been awarded to McKenzie Brown ‘09 and Elissa Hanson ‘09. The Earle Bates Prize is awarded to a graduating environmental studies student in honor of Earle Bates, a strong supporter of the Environmental Studies Program and a role model of environmental citizenship. The award recipient is chosen by the Environmental Studies core faculty on the basis of general academic performance, academic performance in the Environmental Studies Program, participation in co-curricular activities and contributions to campus and community sustainability.

Earth Day 2008

On April 22, 2008 Washington and Lee celebrated Earth Day along with the Virginia Native Plant Society, the Program in Environmental Studies, the Student Environmental Action League, and the Outing Club, highlighting native plants, the W&L back campus garden and treading lightly on nature.

Fifty pumpkin, zucchini, summer squash and cucumber seeds were planted at the back campus garden table during the Earth Day. Members of the classes of ‘08, ‘09, ‘10, and ‘11, as well as, faculty and staff from Teacher Education, Public Safety, Religious Life, Greek Life, English Dept, Anthropology Dept, the Business Office, Environmental Studies, the Law School, Portuguese Dept, Journalism Dept, the Sheperd Poverty Program, Religion Dept, University Computing and WLUR participated.

The plants have spent two weeks in the University greenhouse and are now ready to plant in the back campus garden. Dr. Bill Hamilton, Assistant Professor of Biology, is coordinating the planting which will take place the week of May 12-16.

The Conference on the Ecological Dimensions of Biofuels

On March 10th, 2008, this conference explored the ecological dimensions of biofuels production and identified management strategies and research opportunities to ensure their sustainability. 350 attendees heard invited presentations by leading scientists on:

• sustainable development and use of biofuels;
• social, biogeographic, land use, and biodiversity considerations; and,
• ecological dimensions of alternatives for crop selection and production, harvest and transport of product to refinery, and refining of liquid fuels and other co-products.

The conference concluded with an evening social featuring additional poster presentations and opportunities for attendees to network with presenters and others working in this important field.

Washington and Lee University students and faculty who attended include Dr. James Kahn, Dr. Bill Hamilton, Clarice Bayer, Christina Ballisteri, Maria Albuja, Louise Brooks, Abel Delgado, Michael Thompson, and Yan Yan.

Powershift 2007

On November 2, 2007, thousands of young adults converged on Washington, D.C. for Power Shift 2007, the first national youth summit to address the climate crisis. Youth of all backgrounds used their experience from local and state level climate change movements to create a fresh, positive, and inspiring vision of the future, one focused on their potential to overcome the challenges of the 21st century, build a clean energy economy, achieve energy independence, create millions of green jobs, increase global equity, and revitalize the American economy. The conference took place over three days, followed by a ‘lobby day’ where almost 3000 young adults went to Congress and lobbied their representatives to support their goals.