Susan鈥檚 Summers: A Society Fellow Helps Students Continue Their Research
By Caitlin Jennings, Communications Coordinator, 中文无码 & the Public
Susan Vincent, a 2009 Society Fellow, doesn鈥檛 take a summer break from teaching the students at the Young Women鈥檚 Leadership Institute in New York City. Instead she spends her vacation trudging through knee deep water and mud so thick it is possible to get stuck in. This summer she regularly took several of her students, as well as some boys from a nearby school, to Piermont Marsh to take water samples. The marsh is in poor condition and has been taken over by an opportunistic plant,聽Phragmites, which now covers 75% of the marsh vegetation. Susan鈥檚 group is studying how fast it is invading and what this means for animal life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a marvelous opportunity,鈥� she says of the experience, which exposes her students to a different world. 鈥淲e involve all of the senses when we go out to the field. When you read about this in a textbook, it鈥檚 a rather sterile experience鈥攊t鈥檚 not so exciting and fun.鈥� She also says it is a great way to boost a student鈥檚 confidence. 鈥淲hat I find when I take them out in the field is that they will get out there, they鈥檒l get muddy,聽they鈥檒l do whatever they need to do and they don鈥檛 ever assume that someone else is there to do it for them,鈥� Susan says. This summer, local boys joined her students, and often the girls were more ready to tackle tasks and get dirty (both literally and figuratively), while having to coax the boys to do the same. 鈥淭hey had that confidence that comes from having had to do it themselves.鈥�
Their work has been so successful that, Susan, along with a few students, will be attending the聽聽this October to present their findings. One student, who will be attending Colby College on a full ride and plans to study environmental science, received additional support from Colby to attend the event as well. 鈥淲e are all about getting them to the next level of their educational journey,鈥� Susan says; two other rising college freshman joined Susan this summer to conduct additional research, including a student who received a聽.
Susan says it is gratifying to see her students come in to their own and take an interest in environmental science. Thanks to several partners, including the Society, the program continues to be able to rent canoes, pay for lab time, and cover other costs in order to provide these under-served students with an opportunity to conduct their own research. The $8,500 a year from the Society through her Fellowship has helped significantly, Susan says, 鈥淭he Society is keeping us running.鈥�
- View the Posters Presenting the Summer Research:
- Read Susan Vincent鈥檚聽
