The Carter Center in Atlanta leads the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, working with ministries of health and local communities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and others. OWU Environmental Studies and Biology alumna Sarah Yerian '06 (above, center) is the Senior Associate Director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at The Carter Center. Previously, she was the country representative for Carter Center health programs in South Sudan. She also earned a Master of Public Health, Global Health degree at Emory University.
OWU alumni are working on environmental solutions from water quality in our communities, to disaster management across the country, to global climate change. They are researchers, teachers, managers, and environmental caretakers. And they are making our world a better place.
Quality Control Technician at GOJO Industries, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
At Ohio Wesleyan, Jakob Woodside worked with Professor Laurie Anderson on a project at Stratford Ecological Center to monitor sugar maples and their sap to determine how individual trees would change as the climate changed around them.
Field Technician, NEON Program, Fairbanks, Alaska
Taking full advantage of OWU Connection opportunities, Eva Blockstein completed two internships, serving as a herpetology intern at Columbus Zoo & Aquarium and as an iNaturalist intern at Stratford Ecological Center. She also received an OWU Connection Grant to serve as a conservation and research volunteer at the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center.
DVM ’23 student at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
Serena George participated in a wide range of OWU Connection research and travel projects, including a grant to work as a volunteer at Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage in Zimbabwe. She also worked as a North America animal care intern at Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, and she conducted summer research exploring the presence of ticks on roadkill vertebrates in northern Tanzania.
Graduate Student, University of Boulder, Colorado
Caroline Hamlin is pursuing a master's of the environment degree. At OWU, she seved on the Sustainability Task Force, and she was president of the Class of 2019.
Environmental Science graduate student, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Katie Vonderembse conducted mentored research projects in botany and zoology at OWU, including a summer project under Professor Amy Downing to explore the effects of road salt and nutrient runoff on freshwater ecosystems. She also served as a quality improvement intern at Harbor, a mental health agency in Toledo.
Home Country: China
Associate Consultant, SynTao, Beijing, China
Dianyi Li earned a Master of Environmental Management, Energy and Environment, and Climate Change from Duke University in 2020. At OWU, she participated in a travel course on environmental alteration in Costa Rica, conducted research on Greenland ice sheets, and received an OWU Connection grant to to present her research at the national conference of the American Association of Geographers.
Ph.D. Student and Graduate Teaching Associate at Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental Social Science
Emily Howald Rabung played a key role in developing OWU's Sustainability Plan, documenting sustainability initiatives across the university, working as a member of the Sustainability Committee, and customizing the plan to fit the needs and capabilities of the university based on feedback from stakeholders. The Sustainability Plan was adopted in October of 2017.
Underwriting Coordinator at WOSU Public Media, Columbus, Ohio
Amanda Marshall used an OWU Connection Grant to spend four weeks at the Karongwe Private Game Reserve in South Africa helping a Global Village International research team collect data on the Big 5 (cheetahs, lions, elephants, leopards, and hyenas) and their resident predators. She also completed internships at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the Ohio Wildlife Center. She completed an MBA at Ohio University.
Bioprocess Engineer at AveXis, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Jeffrey Rothenberg was a member of the committee that drafted the OWU Sustainability Plan.
Graduate Research Assistant in M.A. program in Marine Affairs at University of Rhode Island
While at OWU, Callan Yanoff served as a Council on Environmental Quality NEPA intern at The White House, and as an environmental health & safety intern at NOVAVAX Inc., Rockville, MD.
Community Preparedness Program Manager, Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, Philadelphia, PA
In 2020 Olivia Gillison also served as the COVID-19 Logistics & Planning Coordinator with Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management. At OWU, she completed an internship as special events analyst with the City of Philadelphia
Environmental Management Officer at the International Centre for Environmental Management, Vietnam
Hung Tran earned a master’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Maryland in 2016. At OWU, he served as an environmental health and safety intern, and he was a climate change research intern with Greenpeace in Washington, D.C.
Officer, International Conservation Unit, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC
Courtney Durham's work focuses on global climate action and policymaking with governments, think tanks, U.N. agencies, international development banks, and national governments. She earned her master's of environmental management degree at Yale. During one of her volunteer service projects at OWU, she worked a shift preparing meals with President Barack Obama at Martha’s Table, a Washington, D.C., shelter.
GIS Librarian at University of California San Diego
Amy Work earned an M.A. in Geography, GIS and Remote Sensing from Syracuse University. While she was Director of Programs for Geoporter in Costa Rica, she worked with OWU students and faculty on OWU Connection projects using GIS and GPS to map community issues and important resources to protect.
Organizational Insight Analyst and Field Research Safety Officer at Stanford University, San Francisco Area
Sarah Martin Segal earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Systems at the University of California, Merced
Senior Environmental Scientist at California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Redding, California
Kate Blanchard earned an M.S. in Environmental Science at California State University-Chico. She joined the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2010 and now tackles permitting and instream flow conditions associated with the cannabis industry.
Research Economist at U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
Ken Bagstad, who holds a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from the University of Vermont, conducts research to map, model, and value ecosystem services, and to assist resource managers with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and Department of Interior - Office of Policy Analysis on incorporating ecosystem services into long-term planning and decision-making.
Disaster Recovery Specialist at FEMA, Washington, D.C.
Alexander Frane received an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Planning from Virginia Tech.