Environmental Leadership Initiative
2025/26 LEAF Fellow Achievements
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
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Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions
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Gretchen Ames (senior)
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Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences-Student Poster Symposium
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Gretchen Ames (senior)
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Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences-Annual Conference
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Emma Toohey and Rowan Winchell (freshman)
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American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Annual Conference
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Nigel St. Jean (senior)
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Gretchen Ames receiving award for best poster at the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions Conference (February, 2026)
Kyra Tompsett at Climate Action Fair (April 2026)
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Vernal Pool Cleanup
(March 2026)
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EVENTS
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Kestral Box Assembly Night
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built eight Kestral boxes with the new WPI Birding Club
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WPI Climate Action Fair
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Assisted with organization and execution of annual Climate Action Fair. Kyra Tompsett (sophomore) (left)
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Hike for a Change, Dirty Hands Project documentary screening
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Organized, advertised, coordinated, and facilitated by Emma Toohey (freshman)(below)
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Vernal Pool Cleanup
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Organized, advertised, coordinated, and facilitated by Sam Houle (sophomore)(collected over 10 bags of trash) (left and below)
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INITIATIVES
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New WPI Birding Club
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Alec Waxer, president; Connor Goudreau, vice president; Mihita Bose, PR chair
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Organized Kestral Box Assembly Night (right).
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Began iNaturalist project, Project has accrued 165 observations representing 81 different species.
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Installation of Native Plant Plaques at Institute Park [ongoing]
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Kyra Tompsett (sophomore) and Rowan Winchell (freshman)
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Developed environmental education proposal to install native plant identification plaques in Institute Park.
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- Designed plaques, and currently seeking approval from the Friends of Institute Park and the Park Commissioner.
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- To make the plaques, completed the WPI Makerspace Laser Cutting/Engraving training.
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Rewild Your Campus [ongoing]
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Mihita Bose (sophomore)
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Working with WPI facilities and the Office of Sustainability to assess WPI land management practices and increase sustainable practices
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Images from Maya Mussel's climate story.
PUBLICATIONS
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Op-Eds on an environmentally related topic
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Climate related Op-Ed about mother's home in India (Mihita Bose, sophomore)
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Mental health related Op-Ed (Emma Toohey, freshman)
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Scientist Spotlights
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Lu Qi (scientist who worked to combat desertification) (Mihita Bose, sophomore)
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Climate Story
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Drafted, curated images, filmed and edited climate story about impact of flood in her hometown, and published story on the climate stories project website (Maya Mussel).
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INDEPENDENT LEARNING
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Learning for Nature, Ecological Connectivity for People and Planet cerificate (Grace Choy and Kyra Tompsett)
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Completed Science journalism masterclass, “How to Center People in Science Stories.” (Maya Mussel, Sophomore)
VOLUNTEERING
Freshman Rowen Winch and Sophomore Sam Houle joined their Sustainable Careers mentor from Appalachian Mountain Club to reroute/repair a trail.
