Christina Geller, of Bozeman, named Marsh-Mosakowski NOAA Fellow at Clark University

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Christina Geller of Clark University

WORCESTER, MA (07/16/2012)(readMedia)-- Clark University student Christina M. Geller, of Bozeman, is studying marine resources at a research station in Washington state, thanks to a partnership between two Clark institutes and the federal agency charged with watching over the health of our skies and oceans.

Geller is one of only five students to be named a Marsh-Mosakowski NOAA Fellow. The fellowship program, which includes generous summer research stipends, was established this year by Clark's George Perkins Marsh Institute and Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Geller's research project is titled "Understanding the Importance of Marine Resources to Alaskan Fishing Communities" and entails study at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, based in Washington. Data she collects will contribute to information for study by a NOAA economist to determine impact and indicators of climate change on Alaska communities. Those results are being mapped by her supervisor at NOAA, eventually to be turned into a paper for an academic journal. Geller will present her research at an Intern Symposium at the AFSC on July 20.

Geller will be a senior this fall at Clark, where she double-majors in geography and economics. Her Clark faculty mentors are Professor Jacqueline Geoghegan (Economics) and James Murphy (Geography). She is a Presidential Scholar and student Resident Adviser. She graduated from Coppell High School, Texas, in 2009.

At a spring-semester reception for the 2012 NOAA fellows, Mosakowski Institute Director James Gomes noted that their work illustrates the perfect union of research and practice. The partnership, he said, was the result partly of a visit to Clark last year by top NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, who spoke about strides that have been made, as well as the ongoing challenges, in developing a sustainable future.

Professor Robert Johnston, director of the Marsh Institute, said the NOAA partnership links Clark students with scientists and peer-to-peer researchers from around the country. Johnston noted the program is emblematic of the University's adoption of Liberal Education and Effective Practice, which deepens students' education by combining classroom learning with real-world engagement. "This is the sort of thing that LEEP is all about," he said.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark's pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark's faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University's motto: Challenge convention. Change our world. www.clarku.edu