Rogers recognizes students for sustainability efforts

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: 907-474-7902
08/07/09

University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Brian Rogers will recognize four students this year for their efforts to encourage sustainability on campus.

The four--Molly Dischner, Amy Snider, Gretchen Garcia and Eli Sonafrank--are the first recipients of the Chancellor's Tuition Waiver for Student Sustainability Efforts. Each student will receive a 12- or 6-credit tuition waiver or a $500 cash award.

Rogers created the waiver as part of his commitment to UAF becoming a more sustainable campus. He hopes to make the award annually. Following is brief information on each student selected:

• Molly Dischner is a senior journalism major. She was nominated multiple times for her work on the Honors House retrofit project. She has served as a leader on the project, which first focused on upgrades to the Copper Lane House and eventually changed direction to the current project to upgrade the Colville House. Dischner is also active in the Students For Free Enterprise group, where she is project manager for the Kids for Conservation program.

• Gretchen Garcia is a senior biological sciences major. She has been active in the Sustainable Campus Task Force since 2005. Since then, she has been involved in multiple sustainability activities on campus, including the Earth Day fair, the Sustainable Living Conference and a campus bike workshop. She will serve as president of the Sustainable Campus Task Force during the 2009-2010 academic year.

• Amy Snider is a junior political science major with a focus on environmental policy. Her minor is in natural resources management. She has been active in a variety of community and UAF efforts to educate people about sustainability. Snider is a member the Sustainable Campus Task Force and an officer in Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society. She recently helped gather signatures for a student initiative to institute a fee to support campus sustainability efforts and helped organize Green Democracy, a discussion among multiple campus offices about sustainability efforts at UAF.

• Eli Sonafrank graduated from UAF in May with a degree in natural resources management and is now planning to enter the elementary education post-baccalaureate licensure program at UAF. During his time as an undergraduate, he served two years as president of the Sustainable Campus Task Force and directed the campus' student-led recycling program. He organized multiple events centered on sustainability and built his senior thesis around the same theme. He serves on the chancellor's sustainability committee and the Fairbanks North Star Borough recycling committee.

CONTACT: UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers at 907-474-7112 or via e-mail at bdrogers@alaska.edu. Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at 907-474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@alaska.edu.

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