Briarcliff Manor, NY resident chosen as a Union College Adirondack Summer Research Fellow

SCHENECTADY, NY (07/11/2013)(readMedia)-- Samantha Muratori '14 of Briarcliff Manor, NY was chosen as one of Union College's Summer Research Fellows. 

The nine-week fellowship allows Muratori, along with two other students, to opportunity to examine the tension that exists between economic development and environmental protection. They will participate in workshops and seminars and meet with representatives of organizations involved with Adirondack advocacy and policy. They will also meet with residents and business owners, and visit area schools and government buildings.

So far, Muratori and her colleagues have visited the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. "It was an amazing experience," said Muratori.

Other fellows are Laura Johnston of Bard College and Elias Springer of Vassar College.

The program is based out of Union College's new Kelly Adirondack Center. The students are required to write a series of op-eds related to a specific topic that will be submitted to outside news organizations. At the end of the program, they must submit a research paper and give a public presentation on the topic.

The students, who will all be seniors this fall, were selected through a competitive application process and their ability to conduct independent research. Each receives a stipend.

Muratori has an extensive familiarity with the Adirondacks. The political science major (and anthropology minor) spends every summer with her family on Lake George. With an interest in journalism, she saw the fellowship as an opportunity to strengthen her research skills and writing. She will focus on the economic development in Tupper Lake, a former logging town in Franklin County.

On July 18, the students will attend the Common Ground Alliance Forum in Newcomb to promote and discuss economic projects in the Adirondack North Country.

But they will spend most of their time at the Kelly Adirondack Center, which includes a home built by noted Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer in 1934 and the Adirondack Research Library. The center, which Union acquired in 2011 from a private conservation group, is three miles from campus in nearby Niskayuna

The library boasts the largest collection of material outside of the Adirondack Park, including rare books, maps, photographs, documents and the personal papers of some of the region's foremost conservationists. Loraine Wies, the center's librarian, has been a valuable asset for the students.

"This fellowship has been a good way to introduce us to the center," said Muratori. "It's still fairly new, but I think the more it gets used, it will really catch on with people on campus. There is a lot of history in this building."