Field Study Fund Meets Goal and Honors Alumnus
The EES Field Study Fund campaign, launched in fall of 2017 with the help of a generous matching gift from retired School of Economics faculty and EES founding Undergraduate Coordinator Mark Anderson and his spouse Lorraine Ostergren, has been fully endowed. Thanks to many generous donations from friends, faculty, and alumni of EES, we exceeded our $10,000 goal and have raised over $12,000.
Renamed The Adam Perron ’07 Ecology and Environmental Sciences Field Study Fund in honor of alumnus Adam Perron, the new fund will help offset field-study course fees for EES 217: Field Lessons in Acadia. Adam was a passionate student of the natural world whose mantra was “making the world a better place.” A former science teacher at Lake Region Middle School in Naples, Maine, Adam shared his enthusiasm for the environment by providing hands-on learning opportunities for his students. This new scholarship is a fitting tribute to Adam’s legacy. Several of Adam’s friends and family members were on hand to commemorate this new scholarship at our second annual Scholarship and Leadership Celebration on April 17, 2018 (at right).
Learning in the field is critical training for the next generation of environmental scientists. In fact, we created this course due to feedback from students and employers who both indicated more field training for our students was needed to be competitive in the job market. To that end, we created EES 217: Field Lessons in Acadia–an intensive field experience in which students are introduced to a relevant problem facing stakeholders in the field of ecology and environmental sciences. A required course, they work in teams to research, synthesize and present the outcomes of their project to the public, providing valuable hands-on experience and professional training. EES 217 provides students with hands-on, policy-relevant research as they learn what it takes to become an environmental scientist. Though cost-effective, the course fee presents a significant challenge to those students whose tuition and fees are already pushing past their financial aid.
We see this as an opportunity to help students complete the best possible education at UMaine. Thank you to everyone who helped establish the Adam Perron ’07 Ecology and Environmental Sciences Field Study Fund. It will serve as a long-standing reminder of the value of field learning experiences for our students. If you wish to contribute to the Fund, or to otherwise support the EES program, you can donate online.
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