Fellows List
Victoria Ruddle
Victoria Ruddle recently completed her Master of Science in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston, South Carolina. Originally from upstate New York, she has a BS in Biology from St. Lawrence University. Though her graduate research focused on the population status of endangered sturgeon in South Carolina, she developed an interest in marine policy and the intersection of research and conservation. She combined her research skills with her passion for outreach and science communication at the Ocean Research Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, Florida as a part of the Environmental Fellows Program. She is now an Assistant Grant Specialist with the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program at the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Massachusetts, where she reports on federal initiatives to fund wildlife conservation in the Northeast.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Ocean Research Conservation Association
Reflection Entry:
Malavika Sahai
Malavika Sahai is an Environmental Justice and Environmental Policy & Planning student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. Her research involves issues of urban water security, and is directly concerned with infrastructure and affordability. In her experience she has conducted work on social research, environmental communications, labor rights organizing, and food pantry organizing. During her EFP placement, she worked with the National Wildlife Federation on urban initiatives and habitat co-benefits. She has received a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from Virginia Tech.
Foundation Sponsor:
C.S. Mott Foundation
Host Organization:
National Wildlife Federation
Marie Schaefer
Marie Schaefer is a Ph.D. candidate in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). Schaefer is a founding member of the MSU Indigenous Graduate Student Collective, and a Graduate Fellow in the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. She received a bachelor’s in Anthropology from Eastern Michigan University, and a master’s in Applied Anthropology from Northern Arizona University. Schaeffer is of Anishinaabe (Odawa) descent. She has worked with tribes from all over the country. Her work focuses on the revitalization of indigenous knowledge systems, especially manoomin (wild rice). Schaefer is interested in using community-based participatory methods to understand the braiding of indigenous knowledges with scientific knowledge.
Foundation Sponsor:
Wege Foundation
Host Organization:
Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department
Soli Shin
Soli Shin graduated from Duke University with a Master of Environmental Management degree in 2018, with a focus on energy. She views climate and energy issues through the lens of the humanities. Her dream is to solve global energy inefficiencies by matching people with tools and to present renewables as the right choice. She is currently in a rotational program at Southern California Edison’s Energy Procurement & Management Unit.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
Environmental Defense Fund
Rachel Smith
Rachel recently completed her M.S. in Forestry from The University of Montana, where her research focused on developing geospatial tools to assist tribal land managers in meeting their conservation goals. Rachel is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. She is interested in learning how non-profits can support tribal communities to build capacity, and develop movements, focused on the protection and conservation of land, water, air, community health and cultural identity. She enjoys exploring hot springs, hiking with her family, and traveling.
Foundation Sponsor:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Host Organization:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Keyyana Blount
For the William Penn Foundation, Keyyanna works with the Watershed Protection team to articulate the connections between grant-supported activities and outcomes using their “theory of change” cumulative impact framework. She is a doctoral student at the University of Oregon studying carbon dynamics in estuarine wetlands within the context of wetland restoration.
Foundation Sponsor:
William Penn Foundation
Host Organization:
William Penn Foundation
Janae Davis
Janae assists the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Great Lakes Regional Office and the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition (HOW) in kicking off their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Janae helps the NWF team clarify and work towards DEI goals related to institutional culture. She also provided feedback on the development of a project to launch the HOW Coalition’s DEI efforts and led an assessment of leaders and organizations serving frontline communities. Janae is a doctoral student in Geography at Clark University.
Foundation Sponsor:
National Wildlife Federation
Host Organization:
National Wildlife Federation
Vanessa De Anda
Vanessa assists the water, environmental education, and climate, and energy programs on various projects, ranging from synthesizing reports for Program Officers to attending webinars with leading environmental experts. She completed her MESM at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara in 2017 with a specialization in Water Resources Management.
Foundation Sponsor:
Pisces Foundation
Host Organization:
Pisces Foundation
Carla Dhillon
Dr. Carla Dhillon, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges. She is an environmental social scientist working in the areas of climate change, environmental justice, Indigenous studies, and science and
technology. Dhillon was a 2016 Environmental Fellow. She holds a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and a master’s in Regenerative Studies from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. She obtained a doctorate in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan.
technology. Dhillon was a 2016 Environmental Fellow. She holds a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and a master’s in Regenerative Studies from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. She obtained a doctorate in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan.
Foundation Sponsor:
C.S. Mott Foundation
Host Organization:
Vision for a Sustainable Environmental Future
Elena Huisman
Elena was born and raised in Driftwood, Texas, right outside of Austin where her interest in the environment first started. In 2012 she graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, MA with her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Environmental Studies. Elena went on to earn my Master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment in 2016. While in the Environmental Fellows Program Elena was placed at the National Environmental Education Foundation in Washington D.C. where she spent the summer working on evaluation methods and communications projects. Currently, she is the Grants and Program Manager at the Growald Family Fund where she manages the climate grantmaking team.
Foundation Sponsor:
National Environmental Education Foundation
Host Organization:
National Environmental Education Foundation