Kelsey Boyd ’11 Receives Fellowship from Environmental Protection Agency

Award will help fund her research with Steve Mylon, assistant professor of chemistry

Kelsey Boyd ’11 (Lafayette, N.J.), a policy studies major, has received a Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Fellowship for Undergraduate Environmental Study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

GRO fellowship recipients can receive up to $19,250 per year of academic support, including tuition, research materials, and stipends, and up to $8,000 of support to complete a summer internship at an EPA facility. Each year the EPA awards approximately 20 fellowships to students entering their last two years of a bachelor degree program.

Boyd’s award will support her work with Steve Mylon, assistant professor of chemistry, for the next two years. She will collect samples throughout the year from the Delaware and Lehigh rivers to analyze copper in natural freshwater environments and measure seasonal changes in copper speciation (evolution).

“The research is necessary to begin to understand additional factors that might control copper speciation, such as the use of road salt and sand during the winter. Seasonal changes in copper speciation can have a profound impact on the health of local aquatic ecosystems,” says Boyd, a Marquis Scholar.

The fellowship relates to Boyd’s concentration in environmental sciences as part of her policy studies major. “This research will help me better analyze environmental policies because not only is it important to understand economics and how policies are formed, but also to understand the science that should be influencing policy decisions. It is only through the combining of science and economics that sound policy can be created,” she says.

Boyd is undecided about her plans after Lafayette. “The hands-on experience and skills I will gain through this fellowship will help me no matter what path I choose,” she says. “Being able to conduct and understand research that will be used to create policies is an invaluable skill that I can use to help protect the environment.”

This summer, Boyd is performing EXCEL Scholars research with Mark Crain, Simon Professor of Political Economics, that involves looking at the costs of state environmental regulations. During winter break, she visited Guatemala on an interim trip led by Nicole Crain, visiting professor of economics, to learn about the country’s economy.

See a list of recent Lafayette recipients of national and international scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and post-graduate study. For information on applying for scholarships and fellowships, contact Julia A. Goldberg, associate dean of the College, (610) 330-5521.