Antioch University New England master’s degree student Christina Oliva is now the proud recipient of the William R. Ginsberg, Thomas K. Wessels Endowed Scholarship. Tom Wessels, core faculty and associate chair for external relations in Antioch New England’s Department of Environmental Studies, presented Christina with the scholarship at an environmental studies department celebration on Thursday, December 18.
The merit-based scholarship honors a second-year, environmental studies master’s degree student who has displayed excellence in academic achievement and demonstrated leadership.
“Christina is clearly someone who is a doer and rallies others to her causes,” said Tom Wessels. “As such I think she displays the qualities we are looking for in our first Ginsberg/Wessels scholar.”
Christina is a master’s degree candidate in both environmental studies and elementary education. She now serves as ANE’s student government outreach/research coordinator. Earlier, she was the Keene, New Hampshire Earth-Day coordinator, and in 2007, a CTEC Symposium volunteer.
Chistina comes to ANE from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. At Skidmore, she was president of the Environmental Action Club and coordinated the Skidmore Earth Day celebration. She received the 2002 Skidmore President’s Award for her work towards establishing a rape crisis center and a 2002 Skidmore Women in Leadership Award for her counseling work in the dormitories. For her thesis, Christina created the Saratoga Springs Downtown Food Waste Initiative. The initiative, part of the city’s carbon-reduction program, is a food-waste composting plan for Skidmore and downtown Saratoga Springs restaurants. Christina’s hometown is Southampton, New York.
The William R. Ginsberg, Thomas K. Wessels Endowed Scholarship was created in 2008 by a gift from the estate of William R. Ginsberg – a friend of ANE, a noted environmentalist, a graduate of Antioch, and former Antioch Board Member – and ANE core faculty and associate chair for external relations, Tom Wessels. It is a merit-based scholarship that rewards high academic achievement and leadership. Christine is the first student to receive this new scholarship.
About Antioch University New England’s Department of Environmental Studies
In 1971, ANE offered the first environmental studies program in the country. ANE’s Department of Environmental Studies has a history of delivering visionary, progressive, and interdisciplinary programs aimed at helping students solve some of today’s complex environmental challenges. The department offers multiple master’s degrees and a doctoral program.
