The Environmental Leadership Program(ELP) is a service-learning program offered by the University of Oregon that collaborates with local organizations to help students develop leadership, communication and professional skills while addressing local environmental needs.
2018 ELP Team
Sean Petitt
Senior Environmental Studies Major and Earth Science Minor
Sean was born and raised on the Island of Hawaiʻi. He has always had an avid interest in native endemic and indigenous ecosystems and the earth sciences. He was previously a volunteer and Ranger of Interpretation at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and enjoys hiking, rockhounding, and pretty much anything else you can do outdoors. ELP has provided him with an opportunity to take part in critical field-based climate change research that will contribute toward the betterment of not only native ecosystems here in Oregon, but around the world.
Emma Rasmussen
Junior Environmental Science Major and Biology Major, Spanish Minor
Emma grew up in Santa Cruz, California. She is happiest when she is swimming, floating, snorkeling, or anything involving water — fresh or salt. She is passionate about the multidisciplinary aspects of her major from policy and philosophy to biology and statistics. Emma is tentatively thinking of pursuing environmental law after she graduates in 2019. She is eager to see the results of her first direct role in a research project.
Elizabeth Porter
Senior Environmental Science Major and Earth Science Minor
After growing up in Petaluma, California, Beth has spent the last 4 years in Oregon getting her undergraduate degree. Her primary focuses are earth and hydraulic sciences, and she is interest in the relationships between humans, climate, and ecosystem health. She is happiest while outdoors, and loves all things biking and hiking. Her life goal is to bike tour around the world while studying climate change and its effects in different geographic regions.
Hunter Mackin
Senior Environmental Science Major and Economics major
Hunter spent around half of his early years in Oregon and half in Nevada, gaining an appreciation for the diversity of life and climates around the US and beyond. Interested in improving the relationships between humans and other forms of life within a global context, climate adaptation, environmental economics, and conservation are his primary focuses. This summer he’ll be researching the genetic resistance of Southwestern White Pine trees to an exotic pathogen, and gathering seeds for a thesis on endophytic changes under climate simulations of the two Pacific Northwest native grass species Festuca roemeri and Danthonia californica. He is planning on attending graduate school after completing his undergraduate degrees.
Miles Steele
Junior Environmental Science Miles Major
Miles grew up in Orange County, California. He is happiest when he is playing soccer, walking through nature, swimming, or traveling. He is interested in sustainability, how future ecosystems will adapt to climate change, and environmental health. This summer he will be studying ecosystems and cultures while in Belize to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of Belize’s unparalleled environmental and cultural diversity. ELP has provided him with an opportunity to take part in his first critical field-based climate change study and he is excited to see the results.
Allison Ludden
Senior Environmental Science Major
Allison grew up in a small town in Northern Idaho and is completing her last year as an environmental science undergraduate at the University of Oregon. She is passionate about climate change research and all things botany related. Allison’s favorite place on earth is the Redwoods in Northern California.
Andreas Olsen Martinez
Senior Environmental Studies Major
A native to the Willamette Valley, Andreas has experience in wetland prairie, oak savanna, and riparian stream system restoration. After graduation Andreas aims to continue working in prairie restoration in the Pacific Northwest before pursuing graduate school.
Ben Avis
Junior Environmental Studies Major, Spanish Minor
Ben grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb outside of Chicago. He loves the outdoors and is passionate about climate action and environmental justice. ELP has emboldened his fascination with nature and he hopes to continue to work outdoors in the future.
Laura McCullough
First Year Master’s Student, Biology
Laura was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. A lifelong love for nature lead to a passion for the environmental sciences that started in high school. She got her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a minor in Biology in 2016, and is currently working towards a Master’s degree in biology with a focus in wetland biogeochemistry. In her free time, Laura likes to hike, paint, and identify plants.
2017 ELP Team
Adrienne Bowles
Senior Environmental Science Major
Adrienne is interested in working with this research because he is searching for a career that allows him to collect data for climate change research. His favorite part about ELP is the sense of community as well as the hands-on access to finding out new things about the world. He hopes to continue with these types of studies and even more he hopes that this sort of education is more accessible to people other than scientists, because it is for everyone!
Alena Hartmann
Junior Environmental Science Major, Hydrology Minor
Alena is an exchange student from Germany spending three terms at the University of Oregon. ELP has helped her to get an insight into research and what great experiences and challenges may come with it. Her interests revolve around environmental issues that are related to climate change and she plans to enroll into a graduate program in that field or a field related to hydrology. In the summer, she will go back to finish her degree at the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg.
She is passionate about outdoor activities such as hiking and skiing in the Alps, as well as playing the organ and piano.
Augustine Beard
Junior Environmental Studies and History Major
Augustine’s main interests are in environmental history and humanities, but he decided to try out field work because he missed the mud and critters of the outdoors. When he’s not jamming to Grateful Dead, you can find him trekking around the woods of beautiful Western Oregon. The research with the Climate and Phenology projects allows him to pursue his passion for engaging in the creation and communication of new knowledge about the natural world. After he graduates in Spring 2018, he hopes to work in environmental restoration in the Pacific Northwest.
Emily Roque
Senior Environmental Science Major, Biology Minor
Emily wanted to be apart of the Climate and Phenology project offered by ELP because she has an interest in working in the research field after graduation, and because she’s passionate about protecting our changing environment. Her favorite part of working on this team is the hands-on experience and knowledge she gain about our ecosystem and the different responses it has. She looks forward to using this experience in her future endeavors; which include researching more about climate change and finding ways to help mitigate it.
Kylea Garces
Junior Environmental Science Major, Biology Minor
Alongside climate and phenology, Kylea is beginning to explore her science career as she dives into her senior thesis. Due to her new found love for prairies, she is currently designing and pursuing a research project that asks questions concerning the futures of a common prairie grass, tall fescue, and its endophytic community when faced with future drought scenarios.
Samantha Hoffman
Senior Environmental Studies Major, Planning Public Policy and Management Minor
Sam is interested in sustainable transportation and civic engagement. This Climate and Phenology research project is a bit out of her typical field of study, but she really enjoys being in the field and working directly on a research project. Her favorite part of the ELP project is presenting about their findings. She also loves biking around Eugene and crafting in her free time. Next year she hopes to work on city planning projects in Portland, Oregon.
2016 ELP Team
Kassandra McIntyre
Environmental Science major; Geology minor
Kassandra is a senior studying Environmental Science with a minor in Geology at the University of Oregon. She expects to graduate Spring of 2016. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority on campus and Editorial Director of Spoon University, an online food publication. Her passions include sustainability, global food systems, agriculture and conservation. She hopes to continue her environmental education in graduate school Fall of 2017.
Justin Culman
Environmental Science and Geography major
Justin is a 3rd year student at the University of Oregon who is from Denver, Colorado. He is studying Environmental Science and Geography, where he hopes to incorporate his passions for GIS and Biology into a career path. He enjoys skiing, hiking, and scuba diving and is pursuing this passion in the summer of 2016 doing coral reef ecology research in the Caribbean Sea on the island of Bonaire.
Olivia Somhegyi
Junior studying Environmental Science; Biology and Geology minor
Olivia is a junior studying Environmental Science with a minor in biology and geology at the University of Oregon. She is currently an undergraduate research lab assistant in Josh Roering’s lab within the Geology department at the University of Oregon. She is assisting in sample processing of multiple lake core and bedrock samples analyzing isotopic concentrations of Pb210. She is interested in pursuing a career in geomorphology, especially in relation to climate change.
Kaitlin Loomis
Environmental science major; Computer information technologies minor
Kaitlin is a senior at the University of Oregon expecting to graduate in June of 2017. Originally from Reno, Nevada, she transferred to Oregon to major in environmental science with a life science focus and minor in computer information technologies. She is interested in pursuing a career that combines her passion for the outdoors and the environment with her passion for technology in a sustainable way.
Jacob Hyman
Biology major; Media studies minor
Jacob hopes to one day find a way to combine his passion for biology with the creative design skills that he has learned through his minor in a way that makes science easier to understand for non-scientists. Here at Oregon he volunteers for the Bridgham lab, and when he’s not working he tries to spend as much time as he can in the mountains or at the coast.