WNR Updates!

Welcome to the official Mizzou Women in Natural Resources monthly update email, where we will be sharing opportunities, member highlights, and club annoucnements.

Upcoming WNR Events:

THURSDAY February 27th - Invasive Species Awareness Week with MU Chapter of The Wildlife Society! Join us to hear guest speaker MDC fisheries biologist Darby Niswonger, who will discuss her work with invasive carp and aquatic species, as well as a presentation about Missouri insavive plant and wildlife! The meeting will be held at 6:30 pm in ABNR 123.

Tuesday March 11th - Sustain Mizzou and WNR Collab meeting! More details to come soon!

Wednesday March 12th - We are celebrating International Women's Day by inviting Women Owning Woodlands from MU Extension to give a presentation. Come join us in celebrating some incredible accomplishments from women in the field and network! We will meet in ABNR 123 at 6:30 pm.

Be sure to look out in the GroupMe and Instagram for continued updates.

Scholarships Internships and Jobs:

"Buck" Rogers Memorial Scholarship - Due Feb. 28 Students pursuing a degree in or related to outdoor communications can apply. Award includes a $2,000 scholarship, one-year MOC membership and an all-expense paid trip to MOC’s annual conference. Missouri Outdoor Communicators was established in 1994.
Bernie Bahr Forestry and Natural Resources Scholarship - Due March 16 $1,000 scholarship opportunity for undergraduate students who graduated from Hermann High School (preferred), or Owensville, Wellsville, Middletown, N Callaway, New Bloomfield, Fulton, S Callaway or Warrenton High School. GPA of 2.5 or above (submit transcript). Must have completed 2 years of college credit (minimum 44 hrs) and committed to obtaining a bachelor’s degree in forestry, Natural Resource Management or a related field such as Plant/Soil/Environmental Science.
Trans World Airlines (TWA) Scholarship - Due April 2, 2025 The University of Missouri System is now accepting applications for the Trans World Airlines (TWA) Scholarship. The scholarship was established to fund students who are performing research in areas which will impact environmental issues. See eligibility requirements here and apply here.
Pathways to Science Opportunities - Looking for a research opportunity to gain experience this summer? Pathways to Science offers over 700 paid summer research opportunities for undergrads! Browse and apply for these opportunities online.
USA Jobs - https://www.usajobs.gov/search/results/?l=&k=environmental%20scientist

Columbia Activities:

Show Me Adventure: Outdoor Event Expo & Social Join us on Feb. 22 for the FREE Show Me Adventure Outdoor Events Expo and Social! There will be event promoters attending the expo with details for upcoming paddle events, rock climbing, gravel rides, road rides, criterium, mountain bike rides and a whole bunch more! Come on out to Walt’s Bike Shop and join the fun! Catch up with your adventure buddies and make new friends! 1217 Rogers St, Columbia, MO 65201
ROC7K Trail Run - Join us at Cosmo Park’s Rhett’s Run for this 7K (4.3 mile) trail run where runners will take in the scenic twists, turns, hills, and challenging fun. All participants will receive a long-sleeved, performance fabric ROC7K shirt, and a post-race snack. $35 advance registration is required. Online registration can be found here bit.ly/3noBmYW (use activity number 107300). Registration closes at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7, 2025.
MU Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society is hosting a bonfire this Saturday (2/22)! It’s starting @5:30pm in Baskett Forest. It is a potluck-style event and carpooling is available. Reach out to egwp2d@missouri.edu for more info.
SAFE and Forestry line dance - Friday, February 28th, 6-9 pm in Memorial Union N214! No experience needed! $5 Entry. Go support some other awesome SNR clubs!

WNR Member Highlight!

Hi all! I'm Kari Leake, a senior in Natural Resource Science and Management with an emphasis in Human Dimensions. I joined WNR back in my sophomore year and I've made so many of my close friends and even found some great job opportunities because of this club! So, I wanted to share some of the experiences that I've had so that other members of the club can also get as much out of their time at Mizzou as possible.

This past winter break I studied abroad in Costa Rica, and not to be that person, but it really did feel like a life changing trip! We got to see so many different regions of the country, like the cloud rainforests of Monteverde, mangroves on the coast of the western peninsula, and lowland old-growth rainforests, which were all absolutely stunning. I got to see and learn so much about the diverse plant and animal life, research and conservation, and the history of Costa Rica and how they’ve been able to invest so much into their natural resources because of their lack of a national army. My favorite day was on the coast, and we were able to hear from an organization called Las Mariposas del Golfo, which was a women-led group that focuses on empowering women, especially in smaller towns where traditional gender norms are in place, to find work and community outside of their homes. It was the work of some of the women in this organization that helped to promote some of the sustainable fishing practices that have been implemented now. In general, it was amazing to hear about the work that they done to help educate and advocate for other women.

The food was incredible, we stayed in so many cool places, met so many interesting people, and the professors leading the trip were really chill (shoutout to Dr. Knapp and Dr. Stambaugh!). Overall, I would 100% recommend going if you’re thinking about studying abroad.

Black History Month - Women of Color in Natural Resources

In celebration of Black history month, WNR wants to highlight the incredible accomplishments of women of color in natural resources from past and present. In recognizing the underrepresentation of women of color in STEM fields, we hope to create more race-concious and justice-oriented STEM spaces.

Leslie Fields is the Director of the environmental justice department at the Sierra Club. Beyond her thirty years of experience in the field of environmental law and policy, Fields was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Board of Directors of the Mickey Leland Urban Air Toxics Research Center. In 2018, she also received the American Bar Association SEER Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award.

Jacqueline Patterson is the Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Since 2007 Patterson has served as coordinator and co-founder of Women of Color United. Recently a global women’s rights consultant, Jacqueline Patterson has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate, and activist working on women‘s rights, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice.

Leah Thomas founded and launched the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, which advocates for environmental justice and creates educational tools regarding intersectional environmentalism. These ideas are expanded upon in her book, The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet. She infuses intersectionality, joy and radical imagination into environmental education. Advocating for justice for all people and the planet.

Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. The Green Belt Movement is an environmental organization that empowers communities, particularly women, to conserve the environment and improve livelihoods. She was born in Nyeri, a rural area of Kenya (Africa), in 1940. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Professor Maathai became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first woman to attain those positions in the region.