Today we're featuring our fifth and final scholarship winner of 2022! Dorothy Helmken is getting a master’s degree from Drew University to achieve her goal of improving student engagement in the environment through education. She develops place-based environmental education opportunities that are geared towards improving student engagement with and understanding of environmental issues like water and air quality, biodiversity loss, pollution, and connection with the land.
Dorothy Helmken lives in Hopatcong and recently graduated from Drew University with a BA in chemistry and a minor focus in environmental studies and sustainability. Her studies emphasized environmental sustainability, justice, and remediation--frameworks she plans to apply to her graduate degree and future career as a middle school science teacher.
She says, "With the help of my scholarship from The Land Conservancy of New Jersey, I hope to begin implementing these lessons in my upcoming clinical practice as part of my teacher education program. Ultimately, my goal is to improve student engagement in the environment through education, as I believe it will improve our ability to mitigate the issues we are and will continue to face going forward."
Environmental education is one of the most important and effective ways to help people understand the importance of natural resources and the urgency of climate change, so Dorothy's work is incredibly important. Way to go!