Introducing the 2017

Scholarship recipient

Emily Nagel of rural Red Wing, MN

Her comments in response to learning

about being a recipient:

I want you to know that this scholarship allows me to study forestry at the University of Minnesota. Without it, I would be graduating early with a degree in Geography alone. The depth of knowledge of forest systems that I will now be able to reach & apply would be unattainable without your generosity. Thank you.

Asked where do you see yourself in the future, she wrote:

I study geography at the U of M. I am based out of the geography department’s Center for Dendrochronology [Ed.: the science or technique of dating events, environmental change, and archaeological artifacts by using the characteristic patterns of annual growth rings in timber and tree trunks] where I am currently researching Red Pine phenology. This current educational focus is part of a larger university project on Boundary Waters fire history. In order to properly manage the forests of the Boundary Waters, the historic fire regime must be well understood.

This area of study is, of course, a very narrow, specialized field within both forestry and geography.

For the rest of my undergraduate career, I plan to broaden my studies to include a Forestry and Natural Resource Management major. Within this major, I will specialize in forest ecosystem  management and conservation. In this track, I am mostly looking forward to studying forest dynamics, wildlife conservation, and responsible lumber harvesting.

My previous coursework in climatology and biogeography will integrate well into my upcoming coursework in forestry. In many places, forest dynamics are changing rapidly with a changing global climate. As I see it, to better understand the processes at work within a single forest or ecosystem, forestry through a geographic lens will be useful. I hope to work with interdisciplinary ecosystem conservation teams in the future. With a background in geography and a future in studying forestry, I hope to be able to contribute to the preservation of forest ecosystems as a conservation scientist.

Emily received a $5,000 scholarship