colson-fearon ’22 explores urban farming in baltimore

Every year, the COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Brionna Colson-Fearon ’22 is a biology and psychology double major who conducted a qualitative study looking at food apartheid in Baltimore, Maryland, and the role urban farming plays in increasing access to healthy food in the city. The research is a part of her ongoing interests in obesity and public health outcomes of African American communities in urban contexts. Colson-Fearon received the 2022 Clendeninn Prize for her outstanding work and contributions as a biology major at Wesleyan.

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woolford ’22 and friends to host party at the edge of the world

Every year, the COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Liz Woolford ’22 is a theater and government double major whose summer research project focused on developing her theater capstone project: The Party at the Edge of the World, an investigation into the intersection of performance and environmental activism.  The project will culminate in a site-specific/immersive piece to be performed Friday, November 19 through Sunday, November 21, 2021, here at the COE at 284 High Street. Reservations are required for this FREE event.

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pipkin ’22 podcast to investigate land use in the smokies

Every year, the COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years.

Abi Pipkin ’22 is a government and environmental studies major interested in the question of land management in the United States. This summer she explored the Great Smoky Mountains region of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina to learn more about how the privatization of land affects human stewardship of natural resources. The interviews and research she conducted will form a podcast she is developing this semester as part of her senior capstone for the environmental studies and government majors.

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levan ’22 indulges appetite for entomophagy

Megan LevanEvery year, the COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Megan Levan ’22 is an environmental studies and South Asia studies in a global context (university major) major who was recently elected Wesleyan’s Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Megan’s research this summer centered on how edible insect-based products are being promoted by companies and received by consumers in countries not known for their entomophagic practices. Megan believes diets of the future will need to be supplemented with other available protein sources, and her research explored how insects fit into the picture.

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congrats to our 33 coe summer fellows!

Every year, the COE awards fellowships to fund summer research opportunities for Wesleyan students across all majors and class years. Introducing our 33 COE 2021 summer (and a few fall) fellows. Read more about their projects, below!

Nick Bowman ’23
archaeology
My research will focus on the recreation of ancient cultural and environmental conditions in relation to the cultivation of ancient medicinal plants by drawing on archaeological site reports, coring and shoreline data, geological maps, soil samples, and other source material to contextualize Professor Birney’s chemical findings.

Belle Brown ’22
environmental studies and government

This summer, I will work as a multimedia intern for the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, using social media, videography, and photography to share information about organic agriculture. In this position, I will continue to pursue my passion for sustainable agriculture, while also gaining invaluable experience in using multimedia to spread a message that grows increasingly urgent as the climate crisis intensifies.

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cuba calls to borzekowski ’19 and canter ’19

College of Social Studies major Emma Rose Borzekowski ’19 and philosophy and feminist, gender and sexuality studies double major Selene Canter ’19 set out over winter break to research agriculture in Cuba–to learn what farming looks like in one of the few remaining socialist states. The research trip was funded by a grant from the College of the Environment.

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