Tag: 2018

Maddie Stroud

Advance Team

Maddie is a recent graduate of George Mason University. She has her Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Family Science with a concentration in Early Childhood Development and Services, as well as a minor in Communication. She currently works as a Mental Health Associate at Rivermont School, an alternative school in Northern Virginia, for middle school students with emotional disabilities. Maddie has been a part of the Washington Scholars Program family for four years now, serving as an intern during the school year, a Junior Faculty Advisory at WYSE, and Travel Coordinator for the Advance Team. She has previously served as a volunteer leader with Young Life and works in her church’s nursery every week. Maddie loves working with students of all ages and is extremely excited to meet the correspondents and delegates who will attend the conferences this summer!

Tags 2018

Photographer

Lexie Tubell

Junior Faculty Advisor

Lexie Tubell is a rising junior in George Mason University’s honors college with a major in Communication and a concentration in Journalism. Lexie has been very involved with film and journalism for a number of years, from starting an award-winning news program at her high school and working at her local newspaper, to having a film in a New York film festival and being named Videographer in her sorority, Chi Omega. Lexie attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference in 2015 and returned as a Speaker Intern in 2016 and a Junior Faculty Advisor in 2017. She is super excited to come back again for another year as a Junior Faculty Advisor and get to work hands on with the new correspondents and make it an amazing experience.

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Faculty Advisor Staff

Samantha Oester

SAMANTHA OESTER

Faculty Advisor

Samantha Oester is a conservation biologist, coastal ecologist, and aquatic microbiologist. She is a PhD research fellow at George Mason University in Environmental Science and Policy, currently studying global change vulnerability in the Caribbean. She also examines diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion in STEM fields. Originally from rural WV, she’s a cyborg in Chicago who makes her family cosplay for their holiday cards. You can check her out on Google Street View Antarctica.

Tags 2018, 2019, Yellow

Speakers

Rebekah Ortiz

WYSE 2011 Alumna; Founder, Detox Dandy

Rebekah Ortiz is a WYSE 2011 alumna and environmental extraordinaire. She is a Certified Nutritionist and founder of Detox Dandy, an integrated holistic health business located at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, with services in plant based nutrition, detox treatments and herbal spa therapy. Since her participation in WYSE, she has been involved in sustainability work expanding from activism, government research studies and community workshops. Detox Dandy partners with the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter to lead a monthly workshop series “Self Care & Sustainability” at our Virginia Beach location, focused on improved choices to benefit our environment and health.

Tags 2018

Speakers

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader is an author, political activist, attorney, and consumer advocate who has worked for decades on consumer protection, environmental issues, and government reform. He focuses on empowering citizens to create a responsive government, and his activism has played an instrumental role in the passage of key environmental legislation such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act.

Nader has founded and been involved in a number of organizations aimed at improving corporate and government accountability, and he has written more than two dozen books throughout his career. His first book, Unsafe at Any Speed, criticized the auto industry’s production of unsafe vehicles and helped pass key auto safety laws in 1966. This launched his decades-long career of investigating government and corporations to push for greater accountability. In 2006, a documentary called An Unreasonable Man was made about his life’s work establishing watchdog organizations and influencing citizens to hold government accountable.

Currently, Nader co-hosts the “Ralph Nader Radio Hour” and speaks at colleges and universities across the nation about civil justice, environmental, and consumer issues.

Tags 2018

Junior Faculty Advisor Staff

Jazmin Golden

JAZMIN GOLDEN

Junior Faculty Advisor

Jazmin Golden was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is a senior at George Mason University majoring in Environmental Science, B.S. with a minor in Public Policy and Management. She plans to use her education and research to pursue a career in Environmental Policy. Jazmin is a member of the Mason Ambassadors, a student in the Honors College, and an athlete on George Mason’s NCAA D1 Track and Field team as a 400-meter hurdler. She attended WYSE in 2014, and it enhanced her desire to learn more about the surrounding environment ever since. Jazmin believes that with the proper education and public awareness, we can have a positive impact on our environment and make it sustainable for years to come.

Tags 2018, 2019, Purple

Faculty Advisor Staff

Laura Swessel

LAURA SWESSEL

Faculty Advisor

Laura holds an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. She worked at Lockheed Martin as a Mechanical Test Engineer, building commercial satellites while earning an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT. She moved to Indiana in 1999 and started Lean Sigma, a consulting business for appliances, automotive, advertising, and healthcare industries and taught Physics at the local Purdue University campus. In 2012, she began as a long-term substitute Honors Physics teacher at Providence High School and found a love teaching high school. She now teaches Aviation, Physics, and Environmental Science at Mercy Academy in Louisville, KY. Laura has established STEM Clubs and Camps for elementary and middle school students in the area. She has been a volunteer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources since 2008 as a docent at Falls of the Ohio and as a faculty member for the annual Family Paleontology Camp. She also serves on the county Native Habitat Restoration Team. She and her husband have four children, a dog and a cat.

Tags 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, Magenta

Faculty Advisor Staff

Lillian Herring

LILLIAN HERRING

Faculty Advisor

Lillian Herring (she/her) works as a Wildlife Field Technician gathering research data for
conservation management projects. She is currently working on a grassland research in Southern Illinois tracking Bobwhites and Black Racer snakes as well as conducting vegetation surveys and bird counts. Her past projects include trapping and tagging Bobwhites to study habitat use also located in Southern Illinois, and a small mammal mark and recapture project to study population distribution on GrandFather Mountain in North Carolina. Lillian graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelors of Science in Ecology, Evolution, & Environmental Biology. Lillian is a 2016 WYSE alumna and a former JFA. When not working Lillian enjoys cooking, hiking with her dog and cat, and hanging out at the rock climbing gym.

Tags 2018, 2019, 2024, Blue

Junior Faculty Advisor Staff

Kwame Boakye

Junior Faculty Advisor

Kwame Boakye is a student at the University of Houston. He majors in Biotechnology and plans to pursue an MD degree after graduation. He takes pride in volunteering and helping out the community he lives in and as result he is a member of numerous organizations including MEDLIFE, UNICEF, NSCS and CSO all at the University of Houston. He possess leadership skills through his frequent works the CEC’s and their programs with children with disabilities. His interest in the environment derives from his upbringing in Ghana. A sports enthusiast, Kwame supports his favorite sports team wherever he goes. He is a proud alumnus of WYSE and hopes to share his past experiences with this year’s WYSE participants.

Tags 2018

Faculty Advisor Staff

Brian Schwenk

Tags 2018

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