Our alumni are doing amazing things! Read below to hear Mia Nelson, a 2024 graduate of the Program on the Environment, share about her work with Nature Adventure Trek in Seattle’s Discovery Park. 

Victoria Bigga, Leo Reitan Endowed Scholarship
Victoria is an Environmental Studies and  Law, Societies, & Justice double major, graduating in the Spring 2027. As well as being a student, she is a project manager for the Foster School’s Net Impact Consultancy where she works with outside businesses on sustainability and environmental awareness through research and marketing projects. 

Congratulations to PoE Professor P. Sean McDonald on his latest publication in Frontiers in Marine Science! The research article, titled “High resolution monitoring of Salish Sea estuarine communities through participatory science”, is a collaboration with colleagues from Washington Sea Grant, the Program on the Environment, and the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. 

The Program on the Environment will host the Autumn 2025 Capstone Symposium on Tuesday, November 25th (online) AND on Tuesday, December 2nd (in person) at the UW School of Aquatic Fisheries & Science.  

Join PoE Director L. Monika Moskal & PoE Advisor Derek Lee for a series of Career Pathfinding workshops this fall — food provided! These workshops are designed to help you reflect on your strengths, interests, and priorities in order to identify what matters most to you during your job search. 

If you are walking around Greenlake, eating at a restaurant in the Chinatown International District or even out exploring in Bremerton, chances are that some of the businesses around you have been visited by a pair of WM Recycle Corps Interns. 

There is some serendipity in everyone’s journey, and for Maisie Walker, a chance encounter led her to spend this summer serving an internship at a golf course and creating her future. 

Four University of Washington researchers have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2025-2026 and will pursue studies in Spain, Taiwan, Poland and Japan.
The scholars are Jamie Donatuto, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Environment & Occupational Health Sciences; Shelly Gray, a professor in the School of Pharmacy; Michael Kula, an associate professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Tacoma; and Yen-Chu Weng, an assistant teaching professor in the College of the Environment. 

Each year a select group of UW students are provided a rare opportunity to independently travel the world as Bonderman Fellows. David Bonderman, a UW alumnus, created the Bonderman Travel Fellowship in 1995, and it has funded life-changing global journeys for more than 330 students thus far. 

Brigitte Worstell, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Brigitte Worstell is an Environmental Studies and Economics double major at the University of Washington, graduating in Spring 2026. This summer she will be a Voluntary Carbon Markets Communications Intern with the Environmental Defense Fund, where she will work on increasing public understanding and trust in carbon markets through accessible and compelling storytelling.