MARTIN INSTITUTE NAMES OUTSTANDING SENIORS

Director of the Martin Institute Peter Ubertaccio recently announced that Amber Churchill and Hillary Weimont will receive the Institute’s 2008 Outstanding Senior Award.

“Remarkable students and citizens, these graduating seniors symbolize the goal of the Martin Institute, which is to prepare students for leadership as active citizens in service to an improved human community,” notes Ubertaccio. 

Amber Churchill: Working to Preserve the Environment
A resident of Auburn, Maine, Amber Churchill “was green before being green became trendy,” praises Ubertaccio. 

A Biology and Environmental Action Studies Major, she’s served as president for the Students for Environmental Action and as a member of the planning committee for Stonehill’s new Science Center.

Churchill plans to pursue graduate work in Evolutionary Ecology. The recipient of a Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) grant, she investigated the phenoytipc plasticity in two states of the Armillaria gallica mushroom’s life cycle.

Churchill followed up her SURE research with a Stonehill Directed Study and a Harvard University Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology, and has presented her research and findings at many professional conferences.

“Amber brings together her scholarship and academic pursuits with a zeal for grass roots political change based upon environmental justice,” says Ubertaccio.

“When our nations and others finally turn a corner on the issue of climate change and environmental degradation,” adds Ubertaccio, “it will be in no small part due to the effective advocacy of scholars like Amber.”

Hillary Weimont: Seeking Post-Conflict Justice
“While studying at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, Weimont focused on the issues of justice in post-conflict societies and truth commissions. She also tutored seventh grade students in the township of Kayamandi.

"Hillary has stitched together her own program of study to fuel her interest in the continent of Africa,” explains Ubertaccio.

Her experiences in Kayamandi led to a Stonehill Directed Study on the effects of HIV/Aids on African development and also an internship at the International Institute for Justice and Development in Boston. She recently wrote about the migration of skilled workers from Darfur.

A Political Science and International Studies major from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Weimont helped to organize a special interest housing group, "Students for the Promotion of Global Awareness." She is applying to graduate programs in social justice and African development.

“Hillary’s time at Stonehill has brought Africa closer to us and her scholarship and advocacy promise that we all continue to focus on the issues that confront modern Africa,” comments Ubertaccio.

The awards will be formally presented to the two students at the Student Life Awards ceremony in April.

12/17/07