Marilyn Castriotta, a student in the the Department of Environmental Studies’ Conservation Biology concentration, has been awarded the 2013 William R. Ginsberg and Thomas K. Wessels Environmental Studies Scholarship Award.
The scholarship, the highest award given by the faculty of the Department of Environmental Studies to one of its students, goes to a student who has displayed academic excellence and environmental leadership.
Marilyn aspires to learn and embody the principles and practices of sustainable leadership, according to the faculty. At AUNE, she represented the Conservation Biology concentration in the Student Alliance, and served on the President’s Council and the recent Presidential Search Committee. She works as a Summit Steward on Mount Monadnock for the ES Department’s Monadnock Ecological Research and Education project and is co-coordinating, with faculty member Peter Palmiotto, the biannual Northeast Alpine Stewardship Gathering, hosted by AUNE this November.
In the community, Marilyn attends the monthly meetings of the Keene Conservation Commission and is the education and outreach coordinator for the Greater Keene Air Quality Campaign. Actively engaged in volunteer community service, she was recently awarded a Keene Elm City Rotary scholarship for “service above self.” She attended the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training with Al Gore, and volunteers for Climate Reality Project by serving as a training mentor for area climate presenters. She also volunteers as a team leader for Wilderness Heals, an annual three-day pledge hike in the White Mountains benefiting the Elizabeth Stone House in Boston, which provides shelter and services to the homeless. Meanwhile, Marilyn has been a full-time graduate student with excellent academic standing. Her research thesis is on alpine ecology.
The Ginsberg-Wessels Award was created in 2008 by the estate of William R. Ginsberg, a pioneering environmental lawyer who attended Antioch College, and Tom Wessels, AUNE faculty emeritus. The scholarship is awarded annually to a student who displays academic excellence and true leadership.
