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"Pleasantville Patch" featured student Kelsey Parker in "Pace Student Awarded Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant"
"Pleasantville Patch" featured student Kelsey Parker in "Pace Student Awarded Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant"
Pace University announced that honors student Kelsey Parker has been selected to receive a Fulbright award to conduct research in Zambia. Parker is a senior majoring in Environmental Science in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace. Her proposed research, "The Effects of Copper Mining on Soil Health in Zambia," will involve a comparative study of the soil ecology of active and restored mine sites in Zambia to determine what is necessary to treat them.
"I'm so happy for and proud of Kelsey," said Pace President Marvin Krislov. "She's an amazing example of the smart, ambitious students we educate at Pace, and this Fulbright award is yet another great opportunity for her to learn and explore. We're excited to see the research she brings back from her studies of soil ecology in Zambia."
While at Pace, Parker has been a part of the Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research Program conducting research with Marcy Kelly, Ph.D., professor and assistant chair of the Department of Biology. "I have watched Kelsey grow from a reserved first-year student living in New York City for the first time to one of the most talented, engaging and courageous students that I have ever worked with," said Professor Kelly. "Kelsey is passionate about what she believes in and puts all of her energies into each endeavor in which she engages. It is not at all surprising that Kelsey was awarded the Fulbright."
"I'm overjoyed and still surprised that I got a Fulbright," said Parker. "I came to Pace from a tiny town in West Virginia, a state with the lowest education attainment levels in the United States, so even graduating was a huge accomplishment. I have to thank Theresa Frey, the Fulbright advisor for Pace for meeting with me and encouraging me so much along the way. I'm looking forward to an exciting year ahead and once I complete my Fulbright I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in environmental science."
After completing her Fulbright, Parker hopes to write her findings in a manuscript, earn a doctorate in conservation biology, and pursue her career goal to combine the above and below ground aspects of plant growth to restore ecosystems.
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