acmorris

Amanda Morris is a junior from Quincy, Massachusetts. She is an Environmental Studies and Government double major, and is concentrating in International Politics. Last semester she was abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she had the opportunity to study Sustainable Development in Northern Europe. She enjoys theater, music, and singing with her a cappella group, Onomatopoeia!

snyder ’23 engages in green planning

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Would you share a bit about yourself, and some of the highlights of your time at Wesleyan?
Hi! I’m Phoebe Snyder, and I am a class of 2023 graduate. I’m originally from New York, but I have relocated to Denver, Colorado, since graduation. There were a lot of highlights of my Wesleyan experience. During my time at Wes I was on the swim team, also part of a co-ed fraternity on campus! I was a double major in environmental studies and government.

Were you involved with research on campus?
Yes, I worked on research with Helen Poulos, who was fantastic and very supportive. I completed a thesis on the effects of thinning on forests to see how it would affect post fire hydrology, with Professor Poulos as my advisor. I researched whether or not this was beneficial for immediate regrowth and health of forests. I didn’t collect the data in the field myself, but reviewed Helen’s data utilizing GIS analysis. I spent a lot of time sorting through the excel spreadsheets to look at evapotranspiration rates, and examined how water was cycling through the ecosystem. The evapotranspiration rates of plants were indicators of how healthy they were.

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senior spotlight: danielle garten ’24

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Hello! Would you share a bit about your background, and how you became interested in studying the environment?
Hi, I’m Danielle, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I’m studying psychology, education, and environmental studies. I first became interested in the environment when I took AP Environmental Science as a senior in high school. I found the class so interesting, especially learning about population density and how it relates to sustainability and environmental justice. I think that unit helped me understand that social science is connected to environmental science, and it made me want to do environmental studies at Wesleyan.

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senior spotlight: marangela james ’24

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Our 33 class of 2024 ENVS linked majors have primary majors in 15 different departments, from film to government to feminist, gender and sexuality to chemistry. This diversity reflects the deep and widespread interest in environmental issues on the Wesleyan campus and our incredibly fertile coexist community! Manangela James ’24 is a philosophy and environmental studies major who works at Olin Library and as a financial manager for the Green Fund. Learn more about Marangela, below!

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senior spotlight: ishani dave ’24

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Our 33 class of 2024 ENVS linked majors have primary majors in 15 different departments, from film to government to feminist, gender and sexuality to chemistry. This diversity reflects the deep and widespread interest in environmental issues on the Wesleyan campus and our incredibly fertile coexist community! Ishani Dave ’24 is an economics and environmental studies major from New Jersey who works in the Office of Sustainability. Learn more about Ishani, below!

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mcmahon ’24 studies tritrophic interactions in singer lab

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Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer, fall and spring research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Biology major and environmental studies and Jewish studies minor Ben McMahon ‘24 spent his summer examining the tritrophic interactions involving white oak, phloem feeding insects, caterpillars and ants, and the ecological impact the different trophic levels have on one another. 

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