Moriah Day, of Exeter, receives fellowship to support research on spruce beetle outbreaks in Colorado

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Moriah Day is one of nine Clark University students to earn Steinbrecher Fellowships to support summer research projects.

WORCESTER, MA (07/29/2013)(readMedia)-- Moriah A. Day, of Exeter, Mass., is one of nine Clark University undergraduate students who were recently named Steinbrecher Fellows; all will undertake projects this summer and during the 2013-2014 academic year. The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in 2006 to encourage and support Clark undergraduates' pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and community service projects.

Day is examining the effects on forest structure and composition of spruce beetle outbreaks in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to see if the beetle outbreaks correlate with climate change.

"This project interests me because of my concern about climate change and the effects it may have on forests. Since I was a small child I've had a deep appreciation for and fascination with nature and the outdoors...it worries me that anthropogenic climate change may end up driving some of the most majestic creatures on this planet to extinction," she wrote in her proposal for funding. "My desire to do what I can to understand and protect what wild forests still exist is what has led me to decide to major in environmental science and conservation biology.

Dominick Kulakowski, assistant professor of geography, expressed confidence in the student's ability to carry out the project.

Kulakowski has Day in his graduate seminar on forest ecology. His letter of recommendation for the student stated she "is able to comprehend, digest, and discuss the current literature in the field in a manner that is impressive for a student at any stage, and in doing so, she is keeping pace with Masters and PhD students in the seminar."

Day is a member of the Class of 2015. She is involved with the Clark University Concert Band and the Concert Choir. Day is the recipient of a Traina Scholarship and a Presidential Scholarship. She is the daughter of Wayne Alden Day and Suzanne Philip of Exeter. Day is a 2011 graduate of Dexter Regional High School in Dexter, Maine.

The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in memory of David C. Steinbrecher, class of '81, by his parents, Phyllis and Stephen Steinbrecher, class of '55, and is funded by generous gifts from the Steinbrecher family and friends of David.

"A record-breaking number of students applied for these important fellowships this year. After carefully reviewing each of them and deliberating on all of them, the Selection Committee chose the nine most outstanding proposals," said Sharon Krefetz, professor of political science and director of the Steinbrecher Fellowship Program. "Each of these Fellows will embark on a project that has the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in his or her field, or one that can help improve the lives of disadvantaged people living in the U.S. or abroad."

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 complex challenges in the natural sciences, 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