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Maggie Scholle is a rising second year student. She was a GCSC Fellow and also was part of the Spring '23 STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP) at the U of U, learning tools for public engagement in the sciences. Even though Maggie's undergraduate background was in the natural sciences, she brought a unique perspective to the cohort as the only humanities graduate student. For her public engagement project, she created two activities with the Magna Library for children around place attachment. She also led two workshops with the STEM Community Alliance Program (STEMCAP) for youth-in-custody.

Sydney Murray is a rising second year student interested in outdoor education, especially for youth of color. She has worked as a Field Instructor with the Wasatch Mountain Institute (WMI) for the past academic year and is developing an outdoor education program with WMI, Outdoor Afro, and CurlyMe! for Black girls in Utah.

Tessa has worked in the field of environmental education with organizations such as Summit Land Conservancy and Conserve Utah Valley to help spread awareness and appreciation for the natural world. Tessa’s research in the Environmental Humanities focuses on environmental education as a method of fostering resiliency and connection in the face of climate change. Tessa’s thesis work combines accessible, digital education and experiential learning methods to encourage emotional resiliency and place-based sensory connection as a way to understand and confront eco-anxiety and climate grief.

Can art and humanities save the Great Salt Lake? On September 23-24, we explored this question with local artists, poets, journalists, community organizers, Tribal leaders, dancers, communications professionals, scholars, and of course, the many concerned community members who care about Great Salt Lake and a livable future. The Environmental Humanities Symposium on Great Salt Lake: Lessons of Art, Action, and Culture was a great success and we’re so grateful to all our speakers, event partners, and attendees.

Dr. Gregory E. Smoak recently gave the keynote talk on Utah’s water history at the Utah State Historical Society Conference. Greg is the director of the American West Center and the Utah Humanities State Scholar for Think Water Utah. His essay “Utah Waterways” examines Utah’s water history and contemporary challenges, including the crisis at Great Salt Lake. He has an extensive background in Native history, public history, and environmental history in the West.