STUDENT FROM THE
COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE AWARDED
EPA
FELLOWSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
NEW ROCHELLE, NY,
September 26, 2005 -- The College of New Rochelle (CNR) today announced
that Megan Skrip, a junior in the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS),
has been awarded a Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Student
Fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She is
one of 37 students chosen from more than 260 applicants currently
pursuing their undergraduate or graduate degrees. Ms. Skrip will
receive tuition support for her junior and senior years as well as a
monthly stipend for her research projects on the environment. She
will have the opportunity to work on an EPA-funded internship in the
United States during summer 2006.
“We are delighted that the
EPA has chosen Megan for the inaugural year of the GRO fellowship
program,” said Dr. Richard Thompson, Dean of the School of Arts &
Sciences at CNR. “The award will provide a tremendous incentive for her
to continue working on environmentally-focused research projects.”
Ms. Skrip, an Environmental
Studies/Biology major from Oxford, MA, plans a career as an
ecologist. While she was in high school, Ms. Skrip nurtured her
interest in the environment by volunteering as a field assistant for a
Department of the Interior migratory bird survey, and by designing and
writing copy for a trail brochure produced by the Army Corps of
Engineers.
At CNR, Ms. Skrip is
enrolled in the academically rigorous Honors Program. During the
2004-2005 academic year, she worked on a project entitled “Worms in the
Woods: The Effects of Exotic Earthworms on Forest Leaf Litter and Its
Inhabitants” under the guidance of Dr. Faith Kostel-Hughes, Associate
Professor of Biology and Director of Environmental Studies at
CNR. The project looked at the prevalence and impact of
non-native earthworms in forest ecosystems in Westchester County.
By participating in this project, Ms. Skrip developed valuable skills
and expertise needed to carry out scholarly or creative projects at the
college level and became involved in all aspects of conducting research
for the project, under the guidance of key faculty members.
The School of Arts &
Sciences, established in 1904, continues its tradition of enrolling
only women. It offers undergraduate degrees in all traditional
disciplines of liberal arts and sciences and a number of professional
fields. A core curriculum is required, and dual-degree programs,
interdisciplinary studies, independent-study options and flexible
honors programs are also offered. SAS alumnae include: Mary
O’Connor Donohue, lieutenant governor of the State of New York;
Mercedes Ruehl, Academy- and Tony-Award winning actress; Anne Marie
Sweeney, Co-chair, Disney Media Networks Unit and President, Disney-ABC
Television Group; and Aulana Pharis Peters, the first African-American
woman to serve as an SEC Commissioner.
The GRO program was
initiated to strengthen the environmental research capacity of
institutions of higher education that receive limited funding to build
such capacity, including in particular institutions with substantial
minority enrollment. The program provides funding for undergraduate and
graduate students and encourages them to pursue careers in
environmentally related fields. All applications for EPA’s
fellowship programs undergo a rigorous peer-review process, ensuring
that EPA has some of the best students in the country chosen for these
programs. Many former GRO fellows have gone on to careers in
industry or state and federal government. Others are continuing
their educations by pursuing higher graduate degrees. To see a
list of the winners of this year’s GRO fellowship awards, and for more
information about this and other EPA fellowship programs, visit the Web
site at: www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow.
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.
The first Catholic
college for women in New York State,
The
College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order.
Today,
it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three
schools
which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult
learners),
the School of Nursing and the Graduate School. The main campus of
the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of
New York City. The College maintains six other campus locations
in New York
City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu
