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Environmental Studies Major Builds Skills for Further Research After Graduation

Story By:
Will Wrobel | Videographer/Producer
Environmental Studies major Noah Macri
Environmental Studies major Noah Macri

Noah Macri ’17 has applied his environmental studies education in the field over the last few years several times. He collaborated with two environmental studies faculty members, Dr. Denise Burchsted and Dr. Renate Gebauer to give back to the local community through research projects on local habitats.

“Over the four years I’ve done a lot of field trips and field research. I worked with Dr. Burchsted on her river research and I got to go to Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest where a lot of people are doing groundbreaking research,” said Macri. “Also, the senior seminar research project had us come up with a question, do the research, data collection, analyzed the data and then presented the findings, which was a really great experience for the future.”

The seminar class worked with the Harris Center for Education and Conservation to analyze the habits of animals living on Harris Center lands.

“Our study focused on the wildlife at the Harris Center, and more specifically on the fisher. The previous class were unable to find any, which we found interesting. We also did not locate any fishers, which raises questions as to where they are,” said Macri.

Along with the research conducted at the Harris Center, Macri took part in a study with Dr. Burchsted analyzing river habitats in the area.

“With Dr. Burchsted’s research I went out into the field with her team every day and collected water samples. She was more focused on blockages in rivers like log jams and beaver dams and how they affect river ecosystems,” said Macri. “We identified different blockages and tagged them and took water samples, and we used GoPro cameras to locate and monitor amphibians and fish.”

Macri said that the skills he acquired in the classroom coupled with those from working in the field will be instrumental in moving forward in a career in environmental protection and conservation and the environmental studies faculty were there to help him along the way.

“The entire environmental studies department has been phenomenal, all the faculty are always ready to help. Dr. Burchsted, my advisor, has always helped me with picking classes and Dr. Gebauer was my teacher for seminar and she guided us through that process. They’re all so helpful and I’m so grateful for their support,” he said.

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