Kelsey Stone making a difference in human and ecological communities

2015 Mar 9

Rockwall, Texas, resident Kelsey Stone, a graduate student in the Global Field Program (GFP) from Miami University's Project Dragonfly, has been awarded a Community Engagement badge from the university for making a difference in human and ecological communities. As part of the GFP, students like Stone apply the tools of conservation science and advance the tenets central to the master's degree: inquiry, community and voice.

Through her Conservation Science & Community course project entitled "Pollution and the marine environment: Engaging the community to map Boston, Massachusetts beaches," Stone engaged the local community to better understand how locals view marine conservation, pollution, and endangered species as well as how they gauge the cleanliness of Boston public beaches. Stone is an aerial observer/research assistant at New England Aquarium.

As part of her master's program coursework, Stone studied approaches to environmental stewardship in the Central American country of Belize. Study sites include 13 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

The GFP master's degree is designed for educators and other professionals from all disciplines and settings who are interested in working collaboratively to bring about change in local and global contexts. Applicants can be from anywhere in the United States or abroad. To learn more about the GFP, visit http://gfp.miamioh.edu/.

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