Anya Gavrylko, Environmental Community Legacy Scholarship
Anya is an Environmental Studies and Community, Environmental & Planning double major graduating in the spring of 2023. She is from Chicago, Illinois, and is currently working as a research assistant on a project monitoring bird-collisions on campus to bring more bird safe architectural design-based solutions to the University of Washington. Her focus within Environmental Studies is environmental justice, specifically within urban areas. For Anya’s Program on the Environment Capstone she was an environmental justice intern at Lake City Collective, a community organization, and focused on researching solutions for mitigating environmental gentrification. Her senior project for Community, Environmental & Planning is researching the impact of ethnobotanical education on people’s relationship to the natural environment. After graduation, Anya intends on pursuing a career in urban planning, where she hopes to create more channels of communication and trusting relationships between city government and underinvested communities to facilitate community-led and community-oriented environmental justice projects.
Gracie Thomsen, Alumni Scholarship
Gracie Thomsen comes from Hoquiam, Washington and is double majoring in English and Environmental Studies, graduating in 2024. Over the summer, Gracie worked with the City of Hoquiam in their water and parks departments and saw firsthand how water quality and economics needs can come into conflict. Seeing how the city of Hoquiam managed these conflicts as well as learning about the infrastructure of Hoquiam’s water supply helped Gracie learn about career opportunities dealing with water pollution and purification. Gracie would love to use both her English and Environmental Studies degrees and is strongly interested in working environmental education and/or environmental communication.
Isaac Olson, Alumni Scholarship and Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Isaac Olson is majoring in Environmental Studies and Oceanography, graduating in 2024. He is from Snohomish, Washington, and has engaged in research with Professor Ale Gagnon measuring how fish populations respond to rising anoxia and with Professor Terrie Klinger analyzing the effects of alterations to harmful algal blooms in Willapa Bay, Washington. He serves as Undergraduate Assistant for the UW Program on Climate Change, Undergraduate Co-Chair of the College of the Environment Student Advisory Council, and Co-President of Environmental Policy Student Association at the UW, positions that let him increase interdisciplinary, equitable, and accessible environmental communication and action in the UW community. He will be developing Ocean Acidification Toolkits with the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program this summer as a 2022 Hollings Scholar, and after graduation, he hopes to continue working in environmental communication, politics, or advocacy to inspire equitable, lasting, science-backed societal action.
James Moy, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
James is an Environmental Studies and Business major graduating 2025. He is from Foster City, California, and is currently working for PeaceTrees as an Academic Intern through the school year. Additionally, James also works at ASUW(Associated Students of the University of Washington) in the communications department as the multimedia curator. James has used his various positions around the campus community to channel messages and values he’s gained through the environmental courses he’s been involved in. Through his work, James has promoted sustainable initiatives around campus and used his passions for media and communication as a way to channel his love of the natural world. After graduation, James hopes to work in consulting, ideally in the intersectionality between business and sustainability as he feels that this is the way he can best contribute to the economy while simultaneously protecting the world around him.
Jessica Fragoso, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Jessica is an Environmental Studies student from Waukegan, Illinois who will be graduating in 2024. She is currently focusing her studies on sustainable agriculture. She is planning to intern at several urban agriculture sites throughout Seattle to continue developing her skills in the field. She hopes to dedicate her career to promoting sustainable agriculture and further build the resilience of food insecure, low-income communities of color, such as her own hometown.
Sandy Reyes Tena, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Sandy is an Environmental Studies and Spanish major graduating in 2024. She is from Yakima, Washington, and is interning with the City of Sammamish Parks and Recreation in a wetland restoration project as part of her Capstone experience. She will also be conducting her own research to compare western and indigenous restoration techniques and bridge the divide between both frameworks. After graduation, Sandy would like to pursue a career advocating for the rights of indigenous people while also doing restoration work to improve ecosystem health in Yakima.
Sierra Briggs, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Sierra is majoring in Environmental Studies and is graduating in 2024. She is from Cleveland, Ohio, and has done significant research on the Southern Resident Killer Whales throughout her high school and undergraduate career. She continued to foster this passion at UW’s Friday Harbor Labs, wherein she saw firsthand the issues affecting the Salish Sea. After graduating, she intends on attending law school and pursuing a career in environmental litigation or environmental policy to fight for the Southern Residents.
Tia Vontver, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Tia is an Environmental Studies major and Political Science minor graduating in 2023. Tia is from Hailey, Idaho, and is currently working with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to conserve and restore kelp and eelgrass ecosystems as her Program on the Environment Capstone internship. As a part of her Capstone project, she is also conducting research on blue carbon policy to advance the future protection of these vital ecosystems. After graduation, she hopes to make a positive difference through the analysis, development, and implementation of environmental policy
Vanessa Martinez, Program on the Environment Undergraduate Scholarship
Vanessa is an Environmental Studies major and will be graduating in 2023. She is from Marysville, Washington, and is currently an intern during the Winter quarter for NOAA Fisheries for the Program on the Environment’s Capstone series. With her internship, she is trying to find key factors in communication that are missing, in order to bridge the gap between various communities and the accessibility of scientific information from accurate and reliable sources. Upon graduation, Vanessa strives to utilize her time spent at the University of Washington by furthering her desire to contribute to public and social outreach that relates to sustainability and conservation.
