fellowship – coexist

meet our bailey coe 2024 summer fellows!

Every year, the Bailey COE awards fellowships to fund summer (and spring and fall) research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Most recently, the Bailey COE awarded almost 40 fellowships to Wes students. Learn a little bit more about each, below! Applications for summer 2024, fall 2024 and spring 2025 Bailey COE fellowships will open in January 2024.

Ava Guralnick ‘25 plans to use personal storytelling narratives to combine the perspectives of Asian American Studies and Environmental Studies. She will examine the ways in which various spatial and temporal geographies of land can provide new ways to understand and locate the interwoven histories of imperial conflict, connection, and new kinship/family making processes.

senior spotlight: kiran kling ’24

by acmorris

How did you first become interested in the environment?
I started thinking and asking and learning about different ways to deal with climate change when I was really young. I used to have a plan to build an electric car company, and I would drag my parents to conferences on renewable energy. I was very concerned that there was this problem, and nobody was paying attention, and felt like somebody had to do something about it. I thought that I would try and play as much of a role as I could. When I finally had the freedom to study climate solutions in college I jumped at the chance.

What led you to choose your majors, environmental studies and government?
When I got to Wesleyan I decided that I really loved the environmental studies major, and I didn’t want to be boxed into taking the entire earth and environmental science curriculum, particularly online during covid. I liked the variety within the environmental studies major, and I really liked learning about policy, which led me to pursue the government major as well. I chose Wesleyan in large part because of our open curriculum and academic flexibility. I’ve been lucky to take fantastic IDEAS, biology, E&ES, and religion classes alongside my major coursework.

senior spotlight: bella barocas ’24

by acmorris

Hi, Bella! Would you tell me a bit about yourself, and how you found your way to Wesleyan?
I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and I transferred to Wesleyan in my sophomore year, when I realized I didn’t want to be in a big city for college. I actually worked with Lisa Stein ‘21 at an overnight camp the summer after I graduated high school, so Wesleyan was on my radar when I decided to transfer.

How did you become interested in the environment?
In my family we spent a lot of time outside, taking hikes and doing other activities, so I was always somewhat interested in the environment. I also did a semester school program when I was in high school. The program is called The Outdoor Academy in Pisgah Forest, Western North Carolina. I particularly became interested in waste systems. We took a trip to a landfill for the program, and I had never seen where my trash was going, and it really stuck with me. Then I went back to high school and I became the president of the environmental club and started getting compost in the school cafeteria. And then I came here to Wesleyan and realized that the compost interns were the coolest people in the Sustainability Office—you can quote me saying that!

mcmahon ’24 studies tritrophic interactions in singer lab

by acmorris

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.

neiblum ’26 spends summer surveying seabirds in alaska

by sneiblum

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.

o’connor ’26 focuses on bats for new doc

by acmorris

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.

senior spotlight: debbra goh ’24

by acmorris

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.