Wellesley College Receives Grant to Support Environmental Education
from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
| For
immediate release: April 22, 2008 |
Contact:
Molly Tarantino, mtaranti@wellesley.edu |
 |
Professor Beth DeSombre is the chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Wellesley College. |
WELLESLEY, Mass. – The world today is facing many pressing environmental issues—the biodiversity crisis, the collapse of oceanic fisheries, toxic waste disposal, the need for green building design and the inequities and causes of environmental degradation.
Thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Wellesley College students will be better equipped to address these issues. Wellesley has received a $300,000 four-year grant to support the hiring of an environmental studies program coordinator.
“It's hard to overstate the importance of this grant and the position it will create,” said Beth DeSombre, director of the program. “The ES program is incredibly dynamic and has growing student interest, but has had no one — not even an administrative assistant — to help us coordinate our activities or plan new ones. The person in this position will help us collaborate with area colleges, provide support for courses, coordinate a regular speaker series, produce a newsletter for the program and help build ties between ES and the community.”
The Environmental Studies program at Wellesley was established in 2001. The interdisciplinary program gives students knowledge and skills to understand existing environmental problems, evaluate their potential causes and consequences and recommend potential solutions. The program offers 13 courses, and many other departments across campus include environmental-related courses in which students can participate. To learn more about the program, visit www.wellesley.edu/EnvironmentalStudies/.
Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries. For more information, go to www.wellesley.edu.
###