Program Highlights - 2024-2025

Faculty/Student News

This year Environmental Studies turned 40 (!!!), which makes us one of the oldest ENVS programs in the country. We have been celebrating this milestone by bringing Tufts alumni working in the environmental field back to campus, starting new initiatives, and hosting lots of events. To conclude the year, we graduated the largest class in the history of the program. The Class of 2025 had 65 majors and 13 minors!

See some of the students in the Class of 2025 Yearbook here.

Academic Awards

This year, 8 ENVS students were recognized for their achievements with Academic Awards:

Benicio Branco: The Community Building Award
Mariana Campano: The Class of 1942 Prize Scholarship
Ben Chisam: The Ivan Galantic Special Achievement in Humanities Prize
Kailani Day: Nancy W. Anderson Award for Environmental Sustainability and Presidential Award for Civic Life
Elena Manson Gonzalez: Gemma Cifarelli Memorial Scholarship
Bella Smith: Marshall Hochhauser Prize
Camille Smokelin: The Prize Scholarship of the Class of 1882
Emma Vivino: Tufts University Alumni Association Award

ENVS Student Funding

One of Environmental Studies' main priorities is to support students' professional development. This year we proudly funded 21 ENVS students to conduct unpaid internship and research and to attend conferences and complete trainings. Here is an overview of the projects and recipients:

NEW THIS YEAR! - The Justin Packs Memorial Internship is a full-time, 10-weeks opportunity with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to honor ENVS alumn Justin Packs, A23. Inaugural recipient will be announced soon!

NEW THIS YEAR! - A new, endowed, Professional Development Fund was established this year thanks to the generous gift of an anonymous ENVS alum. This fund supports declared ENVS students pursuing internships and/or research opportunities all year round. Students may apply for a $1600 stipend for unpaid work, or request reimbursement for project-related expenses, such as equipment, travel to conferences, or field work. This semester we funded 12 ENVS students:

Emilia Arabbo - Wright-Locke Farm
Lili Biglari - Research with Dr. Justin Hollander
Jennifer Cuartas Hertzog- Research with Dr. Ben Davies
Isaac Dame - TransitMatters
Ruby Giron Carson - Plastic Odyssey Fund
Samara Haynes - MassPIRG
Michelle Hung - Massachusetts Statehouse
Emily O'Hearn - Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs
Michael Rodriguez - Tufts Central Energy Plan
Camille Smokelin - Research with Dr. Kathryn Davies
Broden Walsh - Putney Forest for Learning
Greta Yauch - Center for Wildlife

Through the Career-Building Awards, we funded 3 ENVS students:

Ezra Kanarick - Future of Sustainable Investing Conference
Aubrey Rahaim - Living Stone Lab Conference
Sada Schumann - Wilderness First Responder Certification

Through the Tufts Summer Scholars, we funded 2 ENVS students to conduct summer research with Tufts faculty.

Zayyan Abbas - Peasant Dispossession as Environmental Damage. Advisor: Prof. Sonal Sharma
Maya Lerner - Collective Solutions: Exploring Social Responses to Water Insecurity in Skardu, Pakistan. Advisor: Prof. Hassaan Khan

Through the Tufts Career Center Summer Internship Program, we funded 3 ENVS students to conduct unpaid internships.

Jacqueline Sastry - Surfrider Foundation
Jillian McLeod - Onondaga Audubon Society
Samara Haynes - Environment America

ENVS Student Capstone Projects

These are the students that conducted independent research this year as part of their major:

Senior Theses:

Ben Chisam – Role of libraries as community centers in times of crises. Advisors: Alex Blanchette and Silvia Bottinelli
Abby Frank – Interdisciplinary reflections on changing climate conditions in the Superior iron formations. Advisors: Athena Eyster and Silvia Bottinelli

Semester-long Projects:

Clarah Leite – Indigenous Public Health & Environmental Justice. Advisor: Ninian Stein
Sahm Schiller – It’s Not Impossible: An Idealist Manifesto for Reversing Climate Change. Advisor: Modhumita Roy
Camille Smokelin – Nature Futures Framework in Action in Arlington, MA. Advisor: Kathryn Davies
Olivia Tomasello – Habitat Fragmentation through a Species-Specific Lens using GIS. Advisor: Michael Reed

ENVS Events

Environmental Studies is a vibrant student-centered program and as such, we aim to build community through a variety of events and initiatives.

40th Birthday Party

This year Environmental Studies turned 40. We celebrated this remarkable milestone by inviting ENVS alumni back to campus to speak at the Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lectures, putting together the 40th Anniversary Video, where ENVS alumni shared advice and memories, and hosting a proper birthday party for students, faculty, staff, and friends of the program.

14th Annual Environmental Photo Contest

Through our Undergraduate Environmental Photo Contest we invite all undergraduates to share their own interpretation of "environment". This year, we received 178 stunning photos from 38 participants. See top 3 photos here. Additionally, the top 10 photos will be displayed on the second floor of Barnum Hall for the next academic year.