campos ’24 awarded watson fellowship

by

The Thomas J. Watson fellowship is a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 colleges, including Wesleyan University. The Watson Fellowship allows fellows to engage with their deepest interest on a global scale. Fellows create and develop original projects and embark on the journey for a year. Fellows decide where to go, who to meet, and when to change course. The program aims to produce a year of personal insight, perspective, and confidence that shapes the arc of fellows’ lives. Each year Wesleyan may nominate four candidates. History and environmental studies major Dylan Campos ’24 is one of this year’s Watson fellowship awardees.

Hi, Dylan! Can you tell me a bit about yourself ––what you’re studying, where you’re from, and how you became interested in environmental studies?
Hi! My name is Dylan Campos, I use he/they pronouns, and I’m a senior studying history and environmental studies with a minor in global engagement. I’m from Branford, Connecticut, so not terribly far, maybe 40 minutes, and I’m actually a transfer student. I was originally at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. As a class of ’24 person––a high school class of 2020 person–– COVID did so many things matriculating into college, and so I ended up here my sophomore year. I always knew I was interested in the environment, I just didn’t know exactly how or what. In high school I was really into water and coastal work, living in a shoreline town, and actually it wasn’t until I was at Hampshire that my interests pivoted towards agriculture. And then here at Wesleyan it’s narrowed towards food and food politics, food security, and that’s where I am now. 

Read more

senior spotlight: meera nemali ’24

by

What are your majors?
I am an environmental studies and anthropology major.

Tell us about your capstone project!
I did my capstone paper last semester through an anthropology class called From Metropolis to Megalopolis (ANTH249). I wrote my capstone about how urban planning and city infrastructure can worsen environmental disasters and the ways in which we can sustainably plan our cities in the future. I don’t really know if there’s a way to prevent these disasters, but there are ways to prevent further damage in cities.  

Read more

senior spotlight: sloane dzhitenov ’24

by

Hi, Sloane! What are your majors and where are you from?
I’m a triple major, which is crazy. I’m a film and environmental studies major and also an economic major. And I’m from Massachusetts.

Outside of academics, what else are you involved in on campus?
Film takes up most of my free time. I try to make as many movies as I can. I also run Intercut, which is the film and TV magazine on campus. Those are honestly my main extracurriculars at the end of the day

Read more

snyder ’23 engages in green planning

by

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.

Read more

senior spotlight: serena levingston ’24

by

Hi, Serena! What are your majors here at Wes?
My majors are environmental studies and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies.

What sort of intersection have you found between those two majors?
I think there’s the ecofeminism aspect, looking at how the ways people treat earth seem to mirror the ways people treat women and marginalized people. I’ve taken a lot of classes that focus on the effects of colonialism and western imperial thought on the earth and people.

What are you doing for your senior project?
I wrote a capstone essay last semester in the FGSS Department that was focused on endocrine disruptors, which are a class of chemical compounds that includes things like BPA and parabens. I wrote about how such things are talked about in mainstream media narratives, what that shows about cultural fears, and how that can be applied to broader rhetoric around environmental effects. So, for example, there’s a lot of panic around the effects of endocrine disruptors on reproduction. So I looked at things like who is panicking and who does it actually affect? And I found that the people who are panicking are not necessarily the ones who are affected by it.

Read more

senior spotlight: danielle garten ’24

by

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.

Read more

senior spotlight: marangela james ’24

by

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!

Read more

senior spotlight: ishani dave ’24

by

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!

Read more

senior spotlight: alberto lopez ’24

by

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! Alberto Lopez ’24 is a government and environmental studies major from Texas. Learn more about Alberto, below!

Read more

mcmahon ’24 studies tritrophic interactions in singer lab

by

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. 

Read more

haddad book focuses on enviro politics in east asia

by

John E. Andrus Professor of Government Mary Alice Haddad, a Bailey COE faculty member, recently published her latest book: Environmental Politics in East Asia. In it, she focuses her research on environmental politics in East Asia, with comparisons between China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, looking at the importance of prof-business solutions in creating environmental change in these countries and the common factors of success. Haddad also has a deep interest in the power of local governments and their ability to create tangible progress. I was able to sit down with Professor Haddad to talk about her book and her work. 

Read more

bailey coe hosts talk on political ecology in ancient china

by

The Bailey College of the Environment was delighted to welcome Brian Lander, assistant professor of history and environment & society, Brown University, for “The Political Ecology of China’s First Empire,” on February 29, 2024. Lander is the author of The King’s Harvest: A Political Ecology of China from the First Farmers to the First Empire. As an environmental historian who studies China, Lander focuses on how human societies came to dominate a number of regions, a process beginning with the domestication of plants and animals and continuing with the growth of states and empires. Lander’s current research follows the ecological history of the Qin Dynasty. 

Read more

bryant explores intersection of science and art

by

Raquel Bryant, assistant professor of earth and environmental science and assistant professor of environmental studies, received her undergraduate degrees in Geology and Biology from Brown University, and a PhD in geosciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before coming to Wesleyan University, she was a postdoc at Texas A&M University where she worked with the Gulf Coast Repository for the International Ocean Discovery Program. She shares her experience as a scientist and activist, and highlights her recent retreat to Florence, Italy, supported by a Bailey COE grant!

Read more

reistrup ‘21 explores mine reclamation and restoration

by

Cole Reistrup ‘21 graduated from Wesleyan with majors in environmental studies and earth and environmental science. He is also an alumnus of the University of San Francisco, where he received his master of science in environmental management. His master’s thesis, Considerations for the Use of Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculants in Coal Mine Reclamation and Reforestation in Appalachia: A Guide of Best Practices and Management Recommendations, explores the promising strategy of utilizing mycorrhizal fungi in restoration efforts. Cole is a project manager for Williams Forestry & Associates, where he is responsible for overseeing the safe and effective implementation of coal mine reforestation projects in southern West Virginia and Kentucky. He was recently elected the West Virginia representative for the Society for Ecological Restoration.

Read more

neiblum ’26 spends summer surveying seabirds in alaska

by

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the COE awarded more than 40 fellowships to Wes students.  Sophia Neiblum ’26 is an E&ES and biology major who worked at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, as a seabird research intern last summer.

For my summer fellowship, I worked at the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) as a seabird research intern. The ASLC is a marine research center, public aquarium, and rescue and rehabilitation center in Seward, Alaska. Home to the Kenai Fjords national park, Seward hosts an incredible diversity of marine life. I interned in the ASLC’s seabird research lab, led by Dr. Tuula Hollmen from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Read more

senior spotlight: amanda morris ’24

by

My experiences as an environmental studies major at Wesleyan have broadened my horizons and opened me to an expansive range of new perspectives. I have had many wonderful opportunities throughout my time at Wesleyan and am grateful to have had the support of a number of faculty mentors. I have especially appreciated the interdisciplinary nature of my environmental studies major and have found that the coursework combines well with my government major and international relations concentration. 

Read more

o’connor ’26 focuses on bats for new doc

by

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the Bailey COE awarded more than 40 fellowships to Wes students.  Zack O’Connor ‘26 is a prospective film and environmental studies double major. For his summer project funded by the Bailey COE, he produced  a documentary about white nose syndrome, a devastating fungal disease that has had a catastrophic impact on bat populations across North America. Zack’s film focuses on how white nose syndrome has impacted bats on Martha’s Vineyard.

Read more

senior spotlight: debbra goh ’24

by

Debbra Goh ‘24 is an environmental studies and region major. She is a Bailey College of the Environment summer fellowship recipient and has utilized this support to work on her senior thesis, which will examine the Orang Laut community in Singapore and national narratives of development. She is also a Bailey COE Think Tank fellow, a member of the Wesleyan Green Fund, and cofounder of WesThrift, Wesleyan’s free thrift store. 

Read more

podol ’25 finds inspiration connecting to the land

by

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the COE awarded more than 40 fellowships to Wes students.  Hanah Podol ‘25 is an environmental studies and anthropology major. For her summer project funded by the Bailey COE, she connected with the land through farming and writing.

Read more

senior spotlight: lia franklin ’24

by

Hi, lovely coexist blog readers! My name is Lia Franklin and I have been an intern for the Bailey COE for the past two years. I have been so lucky to work with the wonderful Laurie Kenney to write some great blog posts, create content, and help with events. I have been so grateful for the opportunity to get to know the Bailey COE community more; from students to professors to outside speakers. So, now it’s time for you all to get to know me a little better!

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but have always had a love for the outdoors. This dual love, which many think is somewhat contradictory, has driven my interest in climate change and environmental issues. 

Here at Wesleyan, I am a second semester senior and a government and environmental studies major. I am currently writing a thesis about environmental constitutionalism using New York State as a case study. Through this project, I have been able to combine my two passions: political science and climate work. After graduation, I hope to continue pursuing this combination and am interested in one day working in environmental public policy. I’m specifically interested in urban policy and the intersection between environmental justice movements, public policy, and environmental law in urban areas. 

Read more

brown ’22 shares travel-volunteer experience and advice

by

Belle Brown ‘22, an environmental studies and government major while at Wes, shares her Workaway experiences in Goa, India, and the Western Ghat mountains, working in permaculture and eco-building; discusses her time at Wesleyan and her late night talk show thesis, Wesleyan Tonight; and shares advice for current Wesleyan students!

Hi, Belle! Would you mind sharing a bit about yourself and your time at Wesleyan?
Hi! I am from Arlington, Virginia, but was raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. I graduated from Wes in 2022, with degrees in environmental studies and government. While at Wes, I was involved in the comedy groups Hysterics and Awkward Silence. For my capstone I created a late night TV show called Wesleyan Tonight, which continued on for a year after I left! I worked at Long Lane Farm, and for Wesleyan Food Rescue, as well as on some senior film theses. I was also a compost intern and got to collect people’s food waste and educate them on composting. That was one of my favorite jobs; it really sparked my current interest in food justice and sustainable agriculture.

Read more

senior spotlight: maggie monaghan ’24

by

Maggie Monaghan’24, is an American studies and environmental studies major and an electee of Wesleyan’s Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Maggie is developing a thesis on the influence of naturalist and writer Alexander von Humboldt, and how language plays a central role in the development of culture and our conceptions of history. As a recipient of a Bailey College of the Environment summer fellowship she had the opportunity to work on a musical about Alexander von Humboldt, set in the modern day.

Read more

weiner ’24 explores 1947 texas city disaster

by

Arlo Weiner ‘24 is a history and Middle East studies major. For his thesis, he is creating a documentary about the 1947 Texas City Disaster in which 576 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured. With the assistance of a 2023 Bailey COE summer fellowship, he spent his summer in Texas City and Galveston, meeting with witnesses of the disaster and conducting historical research. 

What led you to choose the Texas City Disaster as the subject for this documentary project? 
I picked this project because I was able to get in touch with a man named Carl Trepagnier, who wrote a fictionalized account of his experience of the disaster entitled Rise Up: A Novel about the 1947 Texas City Explosion. He offered to bring me to the town and offered to show me around and introduce me to other people who also lived through the disaster.

Read more

andrews ’24 retraces her great-grandfather’s farming footsteps

by

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the COE awarded 35 summer fellowships and 1 fall fellowship to Wes students. Olivia Andrews ’24 is an art history major with a minor in film. Olivia’s summer fellowship project mainly centered around her great-grandfather, Tony Andrews, a black farmer who emigrated from Cape Verde by boat in 1926 and founded the family’s farm in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Read more

senior spotlight: dylan campos ’24

by

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! Dylan Campos ’24 (he/they) is a history and environmental studies major with a minor in global engagement. Learn more about Dylan, below!

Read more

angstadt ’25 digs coe summer fellowship opp

by

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the COE awarded 35 summer fellowships and 1 fall fellowship to Wes students. Natalie Angstadt ’25 is a junior majoring in Archaeology and Neuroscience & Behavior. Last summer she engaged in an archaeological dig at Trasimeno Archaeology Field School with the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy.

Read more

coe student-faculty research funds allow o’neil to study connection between pesticides, als

by

Each year the Bailey College of the Environment provides faculty-student research grants to provide faculty and their students an opportunity to conduct research that would not have been otherwise possible. Research in the O’Neil lab is focused on understanding the structure-function relationship of proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases, specifically ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Alzheimer’s Disease. Thanks to a COE faculty-student research grant and a COE summer fellowship,  Alison O’Neil, assistant professor of chemistry, Gloster Aaron, professor of biology,  and Aaron Berson ‘24, an NS&B (neuroscience and behavior) and IDEAS (Integrated Design, Engineering, Arts & Society) major with a minor in chemistry, were able to collaborate on Professor O’Neil’s investigation of cis-chlordane as an environmental trigger of ALS.

Read more

kenney releases debut album

by

At the age of 56, Laurie Kenney has finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. “There are no two ways about it: I’m not your usual ‘new’ music artist,” says Laurie, who lives in Guilford and works as the administrative assistant in the Bailey College of the Environment. “But as far as I know, there’s no age limit on creativity!”  

Laurie wrote her first song at the age of 12 and her second at 56.  In the 44 years in between, she built a career in publishing, public relations, and education, and raised a family. Her musical journey began as a self-imposed challenge: learn to play guitar and write and record an album of original songs…or die trying. Every Apple Does Go Bad Eventually (October 6, 2023, Cynical Girl Records) is the literal fruit of that labor.  

Read more

a musical conversation with harry wu

by

What lessons can we learn from the writings of a doctor/activist from the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan as we seek to build a world to safeguard the health and wellness of every living being on this planet? Harry Wu and his ensemble members, Taugether, have used music to transform the literary works of Lai Ho (1894-1943), a doctor and activist widely regarded as the father of Taiwan New Literature. Harry performed several songs at Wes earlier this week, including one with associate professor of history Ying Jia Tan.

rooted solidarity: a ct food justice gathering

by

Rooted Solidarity: A CT Food Justice Gathering, a place for intergenerational knowledge exchange amongst community members engaged in food justice work and people who’d like to learn more! Register here!

Date: April 20th, 2024, 9:30 am – 4 pm
Location: Meriden Public Library (a 5-minute walk from the Meriden Railroad Station)

Hosted by: The Bailey College of the Environment at Wesleyan University, The Conservation Law Foundation, The Foodshed Network, and The CT Food System Alliance

This event is free and open to the public.

¡Te invitamos a Solidaridad enraizada: Un encuentro por la justicia alimentaria de CT, un lugar para el intercambio intergeneracional de conocimientos entre miembros de la comunidad que trabajan en justicia alimentaria y a las personas que quieran aprender más! ¡Regístrate aquí!

Fecha: 20 de abril de 2024, 9:30 am – 4 pm
Lugar: Biblioteca Pública de Meriden (a 5 minutos a pie de la estación de tren de Meriden)

Organizado por: The Bailey College of the Environment at Wesleyan University, The Conservation Law Foundation, The Foodshed Network, y The CT Food System Alliance

Este encuentro es gratuito y está abierto al público.