Note: Yale School of the Environment (YSE) was formerly known as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). News articles and events posted prior to July 1, 2020 refer to the School's name at that time.
From left: Joanne DeBernardo, Rachel Mak, Devin Routh and Adan Martinez.
The F&ES community last week awarded the Kroon Cup to two members of the Class of 2014, one who has organized a variety of activities linking people with the natural world, and one who made an indelible mark on the school during his too-brief time here.
The winners were Devin Routh, a Master of Forest Science candidate, and Jonah Adels, a Master of Environmental Science candidate who passed away last year during what should have been his second year at the school.
Awarded each spring, the Kroon Cup recognizes individuals who embody stewardship and implement projects that engage and inspire the larger F&ES community. The winners — selected by a vote by the school’s students, staff, and faculty — were announced during a year-end celebration at New Haven Country Club.
Routh was recognized for numerous activities he helped organize “to enrich the F&ES community,” including a popular raw milk cooperative, a plant propagation workshop, a bitters workshop, and a mead-making workshop.
“I’ve never met a more genuine environmentalist who walks the walk more than talks the talk,” one voter wrote.
Routh called the award a meaningful honor, but said none of the activities would have succeeded if not for the work of his classmates and members of the F&ES staff.
Keeping a busy schedule, he said, provided a mental and physical respite from the busy class load — and helped make him feel more connected with the community.
“I think that part of being a member of a community is doing your best to shape it, to help it evolve and help it grow, and to help it become something better than we ever thought it could be,” he said. “And helping everyone realize how much we mean to each other.”
Adels, who was working to integrate urban ecology and systems design, worked on a range of projects during his year at F&ES. He served on the New Haven Food Policy Council, the New Haven Aquaculture Project, and the Yale Sustainable Food Project. He was a leader in the Fossil Free Yale divestment campaign and was an organizer of the first Yale Sustainable Food Project.
A teacher, musician, and farmer, Adels was called an inspiration by classmates, embodying “the best of our community, and lived to inspire others to steward local resources.”
“Jonah was the light of our school,” his classmates wrote. “He was a towering creative force — one of our true outside-the-box thinkers, whose own syncopated rhythms constantly created new melodies, real and metaphorical, for all of us to follow.”
For Routh, receiving the Kroon Cup along with his friend, Adels, made it especially meaningful.
“Re-thinking what ‘community’ means, what the environment means, what sustainability means — and taking the time and doing the hard work to construct new meanings,” Routh said, “these are lessons Jonah helped teach me.”
The winners were Devin Routh, a Master of Forest Science candidate, and Jonah Adels, a Master of Environmental Science candidate who passed away last year during what should have been his second year at the school.
Awarded each spring, the Kroon Cup recognizes individuals who embody stewardship and implement projects that engage and inspire the larger F&ES community. The winners — selected by a vote by the school’s students, staff, and faculty — were announced during a year-end celebration at New Haven Country Club.
Routh was recognized for numerous activities he helped organize “to enrich the F&ES community,” including a popular raw milk cooperative, a plant propagation workshop, a bitters workshop, and a mead-making workshop.
“I’ve never met a more genuine environmentalist who walks the walk more than talks the talk,” one voter wrote.
Routh called the award a meaningful honor, but said none of the activities would have succeeded if not for the work of his classmates and members of the F&ES staff.
Keeping a busy schedule, he said, provided a mental and physical respite from the busy class load — and helped make him feel more connected with the community.
“I think that part of being a member of a community is doing your best to shape it, to help it evolve and help it grow, and to help it become something better than we ever thought it could be,” he said. “And helping everyone realize how much we mean to each other.”
Adels, who was working to integrate urban ecology and systems design, worked on a range of projects during his year at F&ES. He served on the New Haven Food Policy Council, the New Haven Aquaculture Project, and the Yale Sustainable Food Project. He was a leader in the Fossil Free Yale divestment campaign and was an organizer of the first Yale Sustainable Food Project.
A teacher, musician, and farmer, Adels was called an inspiration by classmates, embodying “the best of our community, and lived to inspire others to steward local resources.”
“Jonah was the light of our school,” his classmates wrote. “He was a towering creative force — one of our true outside-the-box thinkers, whose own syncopated rhythms constantly created new melodies, real and metaphorical, for all of us to follow.”
For Routh, receiving the Kroon Cup along with his friend, Adels, made it especially meaningful.
“Re-thinking what ‘community’ means, what the environment means, what sustainability means — and taking the time and doing the hard work to construct new meanings,” Routh said, “these are lessons Jonah helped teach me.”
– Kevin Dennehy kevin.dennehy@yale.edu 203 436-4842
Published
April 29, 2014