Joey Danko, of Shrewsbury, 'paving the way' as a Clark University LEEP Project Pioneer

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Joey Danko III of Shrewsbury

WORCESTER, MA (11/16/2012)(readMedia)-- Clark University senior Joey J. Danko III, of Shrewsbury, was among the 46 Clark University students selected to serve as a LEEP Project Pioneer-the first class of students conducting projects under LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice), Clark's model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences.

The LEEP Pioneers have been working closely with faculty mentors as well as Clark alumni and organizational partners on projects of shared interest or leading-edge research and analysis. The projects, some of which started this summer, and others which will commence during the 2012-2013 academic year, allow the students to creatively address actual problems and apply their knowledge in authentic workplace settings before they graduate. The LEEP Projects span the full breadth of academic studies, from arts/humanities to natural and social sciences.

Danko is involved in a yearlong project studying a wildfire in a 20-acre parcel of land owned by the EcoTarium via fire ecology theory and GIS techniques. His project will lay the foundation for the development of a burn plan aimed at restoring the study site.

This spring Danko was one of only 11 students from around the country to be chosen to conduct research with the prestigious Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) based at Clark. He was also one of ten Clark undergraduate students who received a Steinbrecher Fellowship this spring. The latter enabled him to attend a controlled burning in Myles Standish State Forest in South Carver, Mass., which helped to lay the foundation for his LEEP project at the EcoTarium.

"I think this experience will help me in the future," he wrote. "It has shown me that collaboration, especially face-to-face communication, is the key to successful research. Whether you are getting advice on certain articles to read or data to collect, your research will be easier when you collaborate than if you were to go at it alone from behind a computer screen or book."

Danko is a member of the Class of 2013 at Clark; he majors in geography. He is a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon (the International Geography Honors Society), Clark University's Geography Association (CUGA), and Clark's Mock Trial Team.

Danko is the son of Joseph J. Danko Jr. and Joan Danko of Shrewsbury. He is a 2009 graduate of Francis W. Parker Charter Essential High School.

"Clark's LEEP Project Pioneers initiative is the inaugural run for an exciting new feature of our undergraduate curriculum. LEEP Projects provide opportunities for students to blend academic learning with professional development," said Colin Polsky, associate dean for undergraduate research and active pedagogy and associate professor of geography. "LEEP Projects not only allow Clark students to dive deep into a topic about which they are passionate, but also require students to learn how to communicate about the topic to multiple and diverse audiences."

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. 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