Contact: Deena Mansour, project manager, UM Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, 406-243-2713, deena.mansour@mso.umt.edu.
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center has awarded a total of $12,000 to 13 University of Montana students who are recipients of spring 2011 Pat Williams Scholarships.
The scholarships, drawn from an application pool of nearly 60 students, were awarded competitively to students pursuing internships and research related to public policy across a broad range of fields.
Named in honor of Williams, U.S. congressman from Montana from 1979 to 1997, the scholarship program is part of a project that aims to foster civic responsibility in future leaders and further civil dialogue on domestic policy considerations.
Williams has taught at UM for 14 years and is a Senior Fellow at the University’s O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West. While serving in Congress, he was a strong proponent of the federal legislation that started the Mansfield Center at UM.
East Asia and domestic policy were important issues to Mike Mansfield, the Butte miner who went on to become a revered statesman, the longest serving U.S. Senate majority leader and an ambassador to Japan. Mansfield Center Director Terry Weidner said the scholarships follow Mansfield’s example by emphasizing the global nature of responsible decision-making, ethical leadership and the skills necessary for considered policy development.
Pat Williams Scholarship: Natural Resources Competition Spring 2011:
- Talasi Brooks, law student from Hartford, Conn. Internship with the U.S. Forest Service climate adviser in Washington, D.C.
- Matthew Coomer, senior from Gulfport, Miss. Internship with the Elephant Nature Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
- Melissa Early, graduate student from Charlotte Court House, Va. Research exploring values-based labeling as a social movement using Predator Friendly Certification, a nascent certification labeling program.
- Brianna Ewert, graduate student from Bradenton, Fla. Research project on beginning farmer support programs.
- Sonya Germann, graduate student from Missoula. Research project exploring restoration and collaboration on the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska.
- Emily Gutierrez, junior from Whitefish. Research project involving sustainability and its implications in developing countries, specifically in Mexico.
- David Hooper, graduate student from New Sharon, Maine. Research on the interactions between members of the Nisqually tribe and plants located within Mount Rainier National Park.
- Penny Hudson, graduate student from Missoula. Research on connecting traditional ecological knowledge to diabetes research in anthropology.
- Chelsea McIver, graduate student from Hope, Idaho. Research on building the restoration economy in western Montana.
- Forest Moulton, graduate student from Malone, N.Y. Research assessing visitor evaluations of recreation conditions on the South Fork River.
- Gina Raicovich, graduate student from Roslyn, N.Y. Research to evaluate the potential for a collaborative public dialogue to offer recommendations to key policymakers regarding prairie conservation and land use in northeastern Montana.
- Yvonne Sorovacu, graduate student from Richmond, Va. Research into public knowledge needs of Opportunity citizens concerning groundwater contamination and remediation efforts in a federal hazardous material cleanup site.
- Jennifer White, graduate student from Missoula. Research on local effects of extractive mining in the West.
THE SPRING 2011 PAT WILLIAMS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ARE:
- Caitlin Ajax, junior from Cody, Wyo. Internship in Amman, Jordan, on civic engagement with the nonprofit organization Hamzet Wasel.
- Josh Fomon, graduate student from Iowa City, Iowa. Internship with CutBank, UM’s literary journal, to expand the publication’s outreach to underserved populations.
- Nora Gartner, junior from Chicago. Internships as an interpreter at Travelers’ Rest State Park and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
- Aislinn Heavy Runner-Rioux, graduate student from Browning. Research project on the impact the All Nations Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program has on Native American college students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
- Kate Jaffe, graduate student from Seattle. Research project exploring the history of organ donation public policy and the bioethical issues of these policies through a collection of oral histories.
- Patrick Nicholson, graduate student from Danville, Va. Research project on the sulfur dioxide cap-and-trade allowance market and five related energy markets to determine if cap-and-trade programs increase volatility in energy markets.
- Helen Russette, senior from Havre. Research project assessing the accessibility standards in rural health clinics and community health centers for those with disabilities.
- Thomas Schumann, graduate student from Washington, D.C. Research examining school-based instruction in personal finance as a policy option for improving financial knowledge and outcomes in Montana.
- John Semmens, law student from Great Falls. Internship with the American Civil Liberties Union.
- Micah Sewell, graduate student from Mason, Mich. Research on a comparative assessment of U.S. policy toward Nicaragua, 1990-present.
- Kate Sheridan, graduate student from Eugene, Ore. Research on a history of microlivestock in urban environments.
- Virginia Summey, graduate student from Helena. Research on Elreta N. Melton Alexander Ralston, a groundbreaking African-American female judge.
- Jonathan Van Dyke, graduate student from Missoula. Research on the impact of the courts on annual funding agreements between tribes and federal agencies.
The Pat Williams Scholarships are funded by a congressionally directed grant administered through the U.S. Department of Education. However, the projects funded by this grant do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and do not assume endorsement by the federal government.
For more information visit the Mansfield Center’s website at http://www.umt.edu/mansfield.
