The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Student Service Award honors an UMCES graduate student who has provided outstanding service to their laboratory unit, UMCES, the University System of Maryland, their community, government agencies, and/or professional societies over the course of their tenure as graduate student at UMCES. The award recognizes contributions that are vitally important to the UMCES community and constituencies but are often overlooked in comparison to more traditional academic or scientific achievements.
2022
Claire Nemes
Claire Nemes received this award for a high level of engagement and service to the Appalachian Laboratory (AL), UMCES, and the broader community. Focusing her graduate work on bird research, Claire Nemes has given more than a dozen talks to community groups about bird migration or the ecological impacts of free-roaming cats on birds. She recently became a board member and secretary of BirdLab, a bird banding and conservation nonprofit in Pittsburgh, PA, and has volunteered in several bird banding and survey efforts in western Maryland and nearby Pennsylvania. She has organized countless bird walks in western Maryland, developed educational materials to teach visitors about the challenges of bird migration, and recruited a local cub scout troop to construct and install 14 birdhouses on the Appalachian Laboratory campus.
2021
Christina Goethel
While Christina has been an academic and research standout during her graduate career at UMCES’ Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL), culminating most recently in a 2021-2022 Fulbright Fellowship, this award honors her commitment to service across multiple levels. Since arriving at UMCES, Goethel has served on professional workshop and meeting committees, on a CBL Faculty search committee, as a manuscript reviewer for six journals, on ad hoc committees to organize mental health and social justice efforts at UMCES, and in numerous volunteer and outreach activities at CBL. Her service on the UMCES Graduate Student Council (GSC) elevates her contributions to an exceptional level.