{"id":73948,"date":"2025-02-21T16:05:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T23:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=73948"},"modified":"2025-02-21T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T23:12:00","slug":"wyss-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wyss-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Students receive National Conservation Scholarship from the Wyss Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northern Arizona University\u2019s School of Earth and Sustainability and the <\/span>Wyss Foundation<\/span><\/a> recognized two environmental science & policy graduate students with the 2024-2025 Wyss Conservation Scholars award for their commitment to the field of conservation and for their leadership qualities\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hanson Mike<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Jessica Raty<\/span><\/b> are both pursuing interdisciplinary graduate studies to shape effective new approaches to meet critical environmental challenges.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hanson<\/a>
Hanson Mike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mike, a Din\u00e9 student from Whippoorwill, studied environmental studies at Fort Lewis College and is now pursuing a master\u2019s in environmental sciences & policy at NAU.\u202fHis research examines how Indigenous people have been involved in federal conservation policies, like the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.\u202fMike is a member of NAU\u2019s Free-flowing Rivers Lab and is passionate about helping Indigenous tribes and communities take back control of water management on public lands.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“An Indigenous student, receiving this scholarship has motivated me even more to make a difference in conservation science and policy,\u201d Mike said. \u201cThe scholarship has opened doors for me to pursue my graduate studies, which will greatly enhance my conservation career.\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduation, Mike\u202fplans to work in the nonprofit sector with communities facing environmental injustices.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jessica<\/a>
Jessica Raty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Raty said her experiences growing up in Montana strengthened her interest in protecting her favorite wild places and advancing land and watershed conservation efforts through policy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before attending graduate school at NAU,\u202fRaty\u202fworked as a legislative staffer for former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in Washington, D.C. Through this work, she gained a firsthand understanding of the importance of advocating for strong policies that promote the conservation of natural ecosystems.\u202fIn the Free-flowing Rivers Lab, Raty researches methods\u202fto advance conservation efforts for U.S. public lands, waters and natural resources.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited and honored to have been chosen as a Wyss Scholar,\u201d\u202fRaty said. \u201cUnderstanding how science can be effectively incorporated into environmental policies is critical for implementing long-lasting and effective protections. The Wyss Foundation has provided the opportunity to bring other\u202fWyss\u202fScholars together to bridge the science-policy divide.\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Post-graduation,\u202fRaty\u202fplans to enter a career with the federal government focused on advancing environmental conservation efforts through legislative work.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

Each award covers the costs of two years of graduate school plus a summer internship stipend that supports applied conservation science and leadership.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wyss Foundation supports a growing network of young conservation leaders that are having an impact protecting public lands, waters and wildlife,\u201d said <\/span>Erik Nielsen<\/span><\/b>, associate professor and director of the NAU Wyss Scholars program.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>We\u2019re proud of these new scholars and know that, with support of the Wyss Foundation, they will develop impactful careers that advance environmental justice and conservation efforts through policy and advocacy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wyss Foundation recently awarded three years of additional scholarship funding to the environmental sciences & policy graduate program, which will support six master\u2019s students.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The highly competitive Wyss Scholars program is available to students attending innovative conservation programs including NAU, Yale University, University of Michigan, Lewis and Clark College-Environmental Law, University of Colorado and the University of Montana. All six schools are known for their innovative programs in the fields of environmental sciences, policy and law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about the Wyss Scholars Program at NAU, contact Nielsen at <\/span>Erik.nielsen@nau.edu<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northern Arizona University\u2019s School of Earth and Sustainability and the Wyss Foundation recognized two environmental science & policy graduate students with the 2024-2025 Wyss Conservation Scholars award for their commitment to the field of conservation and for their leadership qualities\u00a0\u00a0 Hanson Mike and Jessica Raty are both pursuing interdisciplinary graduate studies to shape effective new…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":66246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}