St. Mary’s College of Maryland has had two environmental studies majors in recent years earn the Mel Fellowship in Natural Resource Careers with the Maryland Forestry Foundation. It is the Mid-Atlantic’s largest college fellowship in natural resources, awarding $10,000 annually to four Maryland college students.
Peyton Eppard ’25 has been awarded a Mel Fellowship for this current academic year. Eppard’s main objective is to produce a research paper outlining suggestions for the Maryland Forestry Dashboard, which he says will be a display of current forest data of most use and relevance for private forestland owners and the public. As part of the fellowship, Eppard will participate in the upcoming Arbor Day Conference in Washington, D.C. as well as the Annual Maryland Forestry Board Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Sydney West ’23 held a Mel Fellowship during the 2022-23 academic year. West served in the Natural Resources Careers group, advertising and promoting the Natural Resources Careers Camp held each July for high school students. West also wrote a research paper as part of the fellowship, titled "The First Foresters: Native American vs. Modern Day Forestry Management Practices." In addition, West contributed several researched stories to the Maryland Forestry Foundation’s blog. West recently completed a postgraduate internship with the Maryland Environmental Service.
“Like many of our environmental studies majors, Sydney and Peyton are motivated to make a difference in the world through natural resource careers,” says St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Environmental Studies Department Chair and Associate Professor Barry Muchnick. “We are proud of them both and excited to see how the environmental studies major positions students to apply new knowledge and skills through meaningful real-world applications in the state and region.”
The Mel Fellowship program, named after Mel Noland, is intended to “encourage students to pursue careers in Natural Resources and to help them matriculate in a Natural Resources-related field of study.” Mel Noland is one of the state's preeminent citizen leaders in forestry who worked to champion sustainable forestry practices across the state of Maryland. He also worked with the Forestry Boards to aid in establishing school forests on all school campuses.
