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Lafayette student Hart Feuer of Portland, Ore., is one of 80 students nationally who have been honored as recipients of Morris K. Udall Scholarships.
Feuer, a sophomore who is double majoring in economics and business and German, will receive a $5,000 scholarship for the 2003-04 academic year.
In addition, sophomore Gabriella Engelhart of York, Pa., is one of 30 students receiving a $350 honorable mention Udall scholarship. A Marquis Scholar majoring in chemical engineering, Engelhart is one of four Lafayette students awarded Goldwater Scholarships this spring. Given for academic merit, the Goldwater is the premier undergraduate award of its type in the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering.
The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation, headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1992 to honor Congressman Morris Udall and his legacy of public service. Each year it awards 80 scholarships of up to $5,000 to juniors and seniors in fields related to the environment, and to Native American and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care or tribal policy. The foundation also awards 30 scholarships of $350 to honorable mention recipients.
Feuer’s career goal is to obtain a doctorate in development economics and become an economic adviser to developing nations, in order to bring about environmentally sustainable economic growth.
“For many countries rising out of poverty, environmental concerns are disregarded in favor of speedier economic recovery. So often are the financial consequences of an environmentally friendly course of action perceived to be negative that we almost acknowledge it as a rule. I believe this rule is entirely false and intend to make it my life’s goal to prove it so,” he says.
“I would eventually like to establish a humanitarian economic consulting agency that works intimately with developing countries to bring about sustainable and environmentally friendly economic growth,” Feuer continues. “By setting up government and economic infrastructure that fundamentally encourages stewardship, the environmental future of a country will be more assured. Research produced by the agency would be freely distributed to anyone, including those in industrialized countries, in order to promote the cause worldwide.”
Feuer is a participant in Lafayette’s McKelvy House Scholars Program, in which about 20 students of exceptional academic achievement and promise reside together in a historic off-campus house and share in intellectual and social activities. He is also a member of Hillel Society, Students for Social Justice, German Club, and Investment Club.
“What personally inspires me about the academic environment at Lafayette is the availability of potential,” Feuer says. “Incredible research facilities, faculty support, student organizations, and everything else come together to create a campus where you, as a student, can succeed whatever way you want.”
He is president of Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection, or LEAP, a student organization that promotes environmental responsibility on campus and abroad. LEAP is currently conducting campus events marking Earth Week.
This fall, LEAP partnered with students in an Environmental Chemistry course taught by Chip Nataro, assistant professor of chemistry, to strengthen its recycling and educational efforts.
LEAP and its helpers are working on several recycling projects this year. They are making sure that all recycling bins on campus are properly labeled and determining where additional bins should be placed. They are also trying to increase paper recycling, in part by implementing a student program to collect paper from Pardee, Markle, and Marquis Halls and carry it to paper recycling bins in Farinon College Center.
LEAP has made and placed a banner in Farinon specifying what is recyclable and giving statistics that show why recycling is important. In the past, members have participated in Wellness Day and have coordinated poster campaigns, a display on the steps of Farinon Center.
LEAP’s elementary education group has also gone to several Kids in the Community sites to educate children about the environment.
Owen McLeod, assistant professor of philosophy and resident faculty adviser of McKelvy House, says, “Hart has distinguished himself academically, politically, and socially. Under his leadership, LEAP has become one of the most visible and effective student groups on campus. He’s destined, I’m sure, to be a powerful force for moral, political, and environmental good in the world.”
“Through Hart’s dedication he has helped to make our community a more environmentally conscious one. It is certainly a noteworthy accomplishment for a first-year student to take on such a serious leadership role and do such a fine job,” says Arthur D. Kney, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
The recipient of Lafayette’s Rexroth Prize for meritorious achievement in the study of the German language, Feuer is studying this term in Bonn, Germany, at the Academy for International Education.
“The outstanding actions of individual members within the faculty is what sets Lafayette apart,” Feuer says. “Faculty who can recognize students who want to do more in and out of the class, allow a trusting and personal relationship to develop between them, and encourage the student through personal involvement and sacrifice boost the success of the school and reap more personal satisfaction from their work.
“Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger’s [associate professor of German] influence is directly responsible for me studying abroad in Germany and also for my involvement in the McKelvy program,” he says. “The influences of Art Kney, James Crawford [professor of mathematics], and Julia Goldberg [assistant dean of studies] provided me with the opportunity and inspiration that I used to create my Morris Udall application.”
In Germany, Feuer has become involved with the international environmental movement Attac. “I have attended bi-weekly discussions, helped translate numerous texts, and helped consult for many programs designated for English-speaking countries. The group and I have learned much about the environmental policies, tactics, and cultural considerations respective to each of our countries,” he says.
Last summer, Feuer battled wildfires in the forests of his native Oregon, working upwards of 100 hours per week. The experience helped strengthen his commitment to the environment.
“Thanks to a generation of artificially strict wildfire control, our forest floors are filled with thick layers of dead debris that increase the risk of fire ignition and intensify it once a fire has begun,” he says. “Seeing acres of breathtaking forest blackened by an unnaturally strong fire prompted me to consider how interfering with nature ultimately affects us.”
Engelhart’s goal is to obtain a Ph.D. and become an environmental chemical engineer. “I plan to use the unique process-oriented approach of a chemical engineer to face environmental problems with the tools of mathematics, chemistry, and environmental awareness,” says Engelhart, who is also a member of LEAP, a host and tour guide for the admissions office, a member of the campus chapters of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Society of Women Engineers, and club field hockey player.
She is most interested in working on issues relating to water quality. Last fall she had the honor of participating in the Semester in Environmental Science program at Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. The experience included conducting independent research on lowering nitrogen levels in water. Nitrogen can be harmful to aquatic organisms.
“My rigorous courses at Lafayette definitely prepared me for the challenging curriculum and independent research project at MBL,” she says. This summer she will participate in Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, working with Javad Tavakoli, associate professor of chemical engineering, on a research project that involves removing color from industrial wastewater produced by pulp and paper mills. In EXCEL, students collaborate closely with faculty members on research projects while earning a stipend.
Engelhart says the experience at Woods Hole helped her better understand how to “intertwine my environmental beliefs and passions with my educational and career goal of chemical engineering.”
“I realized that not only was I trying to mold chemical engineering and environmental science together because they are my strengths and passions, but that environmental science needs people who have the training and thinking that I will obtain with my chemical engineering education,” she says.
“My research at MBL and my research this summer will be the beginning of a life-long pursuit of higher-quality water,” she continues. “As a chemical engineer I will be able to seek solutions for water degradation in many ways. My goal is to help solve difficult problems like sewage pollution in Boston Harbor, color pollution by industrial plants, or nitrogen loading from animal husbandry farms.”