ENVS News & Events

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Academic Awards for Environmental Science majors

Congratulations to our students who were chosen for academic excellence awards!  We will miss you and wish you the best on your adventures after graduation.

 

 

Amber Stearns - Outstanding Environmental Science Student Award, 2022

Amber Stearns is from Milford, Massachusetts and is a double major in Environmental Science and Regional Planning with a minor in Restoration Ecology and a concentration in Environmental Planning. Her most memorable experience at Westfield State is working with Dr. Lauren DiCarlo researching the invasive shrub, winged burning bush, for her Senior Honors Project. She is planning to thru hike the Appalachian Trail and then see where the road takes her!

Amber Stearns

Maninder Singh - Environmental Science Academic Excellence Award, 2022

Maninder is from Northampton, Massachusetts and is an Environmental Science major with three minors in Regional Planning, Sustainability Studies and Wetland Planning and Management. One of his most memorable moments from WSU has been the Washington Center Experience where he spent a semester in Washington, DC as an intern for the Environmental Protection Agency. Maninder plans on working for the EPA’s Region 1office after graduation.

Maninder Singh

Erica Burton - Outstanding Environmental Science Student Award, 2021

Erica is from Groveland, MA and is an Environmental Science major with a minor in Wetlands Planning and Management and a concentration in Wilderness Leadership. Her most memorable experiences at WSU are going on lantern lit canoe trips and studying abroad in Costa Rica. Participating in a cappella made her time at WSU fun. After graduation she is excited to work in water quality and possibly become a professor one day.

Erica Burton

Kailyn LaPointe - Outstanding Environmental Science Student Award, 2021

Kailyn is from Westfield, Massachusetts and is a double major in Environmental Science and Regional Planning. She is currently working toward a certificate in GIS. Kailyn has recently accepted a position as an Associate Environmental Coordinator for Heritage Land Surveying & Engineering, Inc. She is a member of the Honors Program. Her most memorable Westfield State experience was completing her senior capstone project where she developed an ecological management plan for a forest in Westfield.

Image of Environmental Science student Kailyn LaPointe

Kristen Couture - Outstanding Environmental Science Student Award, 2021

Kristen is an environmental science major.  One of her most memorable was her senior seminar project investigating dissolved oxygen fluctuations in the Swift and Scantic Rivers.  She appreciated finding such a welcoming department of staff and students when she transferred to WSU.  She is graduating after only three years and is looking forward to her next steps after graduation.

Image of Kristen Couture

Isaac Voltoline - Environmental Science Academic Excellence Award, 2021

Isaac Voltoline is an Environmental Science major with a minor in Restoration Ecology, Wildlife Conservation and Biology. Isaac plans to enlist in the National Guard after school and then pursue a job within the USFW or Environmental Police. One of his most memorable experiences at Westfield State was his capstone project where he helped with a local restoration project on campus, mapping the abundance of burning bush and investigating methods that best control this invasive plant.

Image of Isaac Voltoline

Gill Pinciaro - Environmental Science Departmental Service Award, 2021

Gill is an Environmental Science major from Beverly, Massachusetts with minors in Wildlife Conservation, Wetlands Planning and Management, and Adventure Education. She is the president of the Environmental Planning Club and the event coordinator and belayer at the Rock-Climbing Club. Gill’s most memorable experience at Westfield was studying tropical ecology in Costa Rica.  After graduation, she plans on taking to the road to work on different seasonal field jobs across the country.

Image of Gill Pinciaro

The Christina (McLaren)/Davis Environmental Science Scholarship

We are excited to announce the first Christina (McLaren) Davis Environmental Science Scholarship, offered through the WSU Foundation and available only to Environmental Science majors. The funds for the scholarship are from selling land that was donated to WSU by the grandfather of one of our past graduates, Holly Walsh '17. To be eligible, students must have at least a 2.7 GPA, be at least a Sophomore (and returning to WSU next year), write a brief essay, and submit one letter of recommendation.  Students can apply for this and all scholarships on the Foundation Webpage.

Environmental Science Professional Networking Night

This was a great success!  Current students met with professionals and discuss tips and strategies related to your career goals. We had a great lineup of professionals coming, most were graduates of our Environmental Science major:

  • Western District Supervisor, MA Div. of Fish. and Wildlife
  • District Wildlife Biologist, MA Div. of Fish. and Wildlife
  • Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • Zookeeper, Zoo New England
  • Conservation Biologist, MA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
  • Env. Scientist, Environmental Protection Agency
  • GIS Analyst, Tighe & Bond
  • GIS Analyst, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission
  • Senior Environmental Specialist, Eversource Energy
  • Env. Scientist, Triumvirate Environmental
  • Environmental Police Officer
  • Field Technician, McPhail Associates