Pine Jog Fellowship

As a highly involved and environmentally conscious student, Shamae Burrell was always present at bake sales, rallies and cooperative events on campus involving sustainability and environmental justice. She had many friends who were also environmental and social justice activists, whom she highly supported. Shamae begun her freshman year elected to her dorm’s hall counsel representing her floor. She then became involved in an on campus fraternity named Alpha Phi Omega which allowed her to exhibit her innate interests in community service and fellowship with her fellow brothers in the organization. During her summers, she worked for environmental justice organizations organizing for local campaigns such as ceasing natural gas pipeline leaks

I have attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for the last two years. I will be entering my junior year pursuing a Bachelor Degree of Science with a major in Environmental Studies. My career interests entail green energy and natural resource management. I was a young child when I started attending a summer camp program that emphasized nature and environmental conservation—ever since I have made outdoor activities into hobbies and continued interest in environmental sustainability. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh focuses on sustainability through green building, alternative and solar energy, and curbing pollution.

I see environmental education as an opportunity to create passionate young leaders and to educate them on current environmental issues. I believe that my role as a First Year Honors Program Leader has helped prepare me to assist in creating plans for environmental education and community outreach, which are also components of the internship positions that I am applying for. As an honors program leader, I had to create lesson plans for incoming freshmen in a bi-weekly seminar style class to help ease their transition to Iowa State. In addition to this, my time as a tutor for entry level life science classes has shown me my potential as an educator in the environmental field. Leading a class of twelve freshmen students and being a tutor has helped me to increase interpersonal relationship skills and taught me to educate through fun, engaging

In Cenla's community there are limited resources that encourage recycling. At Louisiana State University at Alexandria there is often an overflow of recyclable goods that can be salvaged and re-purposed to benefit our community. We propose an affordable campus project, Recycle Rally, that networks students, teachers, and those in the community through volunteer recycle days and projects that use recycled materials as an art medium. Professors are encouraged to give assignments and extra credit to motivate students to volunteer for work days, as well as, participate themselves. After completing refurbished art projects, students will need support from the community to purchase recycled art, in order to offset the cost for bins, labor, and transportation. The benefits of implementing the program inspire students to care, network, and build within their community,

In undergrad, I volunteered my time as a teacher for the Saturday Science Academy on the campus of Charles R. Drew University. My work with the high school students reminded me that to make a difference, you must first care about the individual and understand their circumstances. The Saturday Science

This past semester has left me thinking about reducing my consumption and improving my community. Reading A Conservationist Manifesto by Scott Russell Sanders has left an imprint on my views of how much Americans waste and how each individual can make a difference. Sanders also has made me realize the true definition of home. No matter where you come from there, one should never take their hometown for granted. Reading this book has made me appreciate where I came from.

I currently help service the community by giving back time through volunteering at different non-profit organizations as well as being involved with MSU Tutoring in the Office of Community Service at Morgan State University. I currently help the environment by recycling and volunteering at the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore once a month. Before I graduate from Morgan State University I would like to create an Environmental Organization that focuses on consumption, recycle, and disposal issues within the Black Community. Once I am stationed on a Naval base I would get involved with the local community by empowering, and educating youth on STEM majors, especially minority females. I want future generations to know there are diverse career opportunities that differ from the standard teacher, doctor, and lawyer responses usually heard in school. I would also always recycle and become involved in organizations that focus on keeping Earth sustainable for all of

“On the morning of September 24th, five students from Valley Regional High School set out to New Haven, Connecticut. They did this along with their teacher Mrs. Hambourg, the spearhead of the high school’s Interact club.The goal of this group of six was to help make a difference in lives of people who are less fortunate than themselves. The Interact club at Valley was established with the intent of getting student involved with the community. This great citizenship club builds character in students through offering multiple opportunities to get involved and help out other groups around the state. One such opportunity that was taken up by these particular students was Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit volunteer based group that builds houses across the nation for those in need.

Before this project, my relationship was not very good with my surroundings, such as if I found trash when hiking, I would leave it. After this project I hope that I might find my relationship to be stronger with the environment and that I will learn new strategies to help. These strategies might be; joining an organization that annually cleans the preserve, or learning what plants are native and which aren’t, or even just picking up trash in my neighborhood. I also know that the relationship with the environment I have affects my health and also others within

Moving through my Girl Scout journey, my troop’s activities became increasingly focused on helping both the planet and others, leading me to become fiercely protective of the environment and all who live in it. In fifth

Every week in this class we discussed and explored ways in which we (as humans) are able to ecologically restore the Earth and contribute to environmental sustainability in different ways and on different subjects such as oceans and agriculture. This class teaches and equips students with information on the downsides and effects of what we are currently doing that negatively impacts the environment but also to contribute to fixing the problems through environmental restoration. For example, the volunteer project I worked on had many end goals including cleaning the surrounding water, prevent soil erosion, and restoring the park

Pursuing a degree in Anthropology provided me with the opportunity to learn analytical techniques that facilitated an appreciation for unfamiliar cultures and belief systems. College shaped who I am today, allowing me to learn and grow in a challenging and fostering environment. Participating in service learning and study abroad had a profound impact on my education. Collaborating with the Appalachian Community Together (ACT) Office I participated in two Alternative Service Experiences (ASE). These programs allowed me to volunteer during spring break within the United States and abroad. Upon completion of my first ASE, I developed a drive to make a difference. Subsequently, I spent the next spring break in Granada, Nicaragua working with the nonprofit La Esperanza Granada teaching English in a local school alongside my fellow peers. This program was an extraordinary experience that had a profound impact on my outlook of service leading me on a path of personal growth and my commitment to serving the community as an active and informed citizen. Gaining the tools to effect positive change is my

After joining the Anaheim Forestry Team my freshmen year and attending the California Forestry Challenge in Santa Cruz. I became aware of my profound love for nature. I participated twice in the California Forestry Challenge. I would walk a mile and a half home at night after the meetings once a week, and begin walking a mile and a half to school at 6 am on Wednesday mornings alone so that I could attend every meeting. My teachers, family, and community were the first ones to notice my rapid interest in school the second I came back from the Forestry Challenge. I began to succeed in school so that I will one day pursue a career in nature and still today I strive every day to make my desire a reality. I vice president of the club and have been

Through working with clubs within my school and community I have volunteered at a number of river and road cleanups. The pollution in my town is overwhelming when you are the one cleaning up the environment and it makes one stop and think about why their community would not take better care of the earth. As an ambassador for the National Society of High School Scholars I would be able to inspire my generation to take better care of the earth by recycling and not littering. By educating my generation I believe we could start a serious movement which would tackle the problem of pollution not only in my community but in all communities in America and

Steve Hansen was an instructor who informed many students in Wisconsin about the importance of renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and earth stewardship. His creativity, energy, and compassion inspired many to become better people. The Steve Hansen Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to honor his spirit and memory, and to help the next generation carry on his important work. He lived the “Earth Steward” philosophy of making ways of global change from a local-to-global scales to improve ecosystem strength and individual well being. His belief in this global reasoning inspired other students and adults around him to strive to live by this philosophy and make the world a better place. He endured to teach others about the