Looking West: Two Named Wyss Scholars

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.

2016 wyss scholars Katherine Fiedler ’17 M.E.M., left, and Rebecca Shively ’17 M.E.M.
The Wyss Foundation, a charitable organization that promotes land conservation in the American West, has selected two F&ES students as 2016 Wyss Scholars — Katherine Fiedler ’17 M.E.M. and Rebecca Shively ’17 M.E.M.
 
The Wyss Scholars Program supports graduate-level education for up-and-coming leaders in western land conservation. The recipients will receive tuition, internships, and post-graduate support as part of the program.
 
Fiedler and Shively were recognized for their extraordinary leadership potential and strong interest and devotion to land conservation in the western U.S.
 
Fiedler is a joint-degree student with Pace Law School and has completed her first two years of law school. Shively came to F&ES from the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she served as a policy advisor to the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. Both plan to return to the west after graduating from Yale to work on land conservation issues that address community and natural resource concerns.
 
Wyss Scholars are engaged in a variety of issues including land conservation and stewardship, environmental policy, field ecology, watershed management, fire science and management, and forestry. They are working for nonprofit organizations like The Nature Conservancy, and for governmental organizations like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service.
 
Since 2006, The Wyss Foundation has provided scholarship funding and post-graduate fellowships to 26 master’s students. Previous Wyss Scholars from Yale F&ES include Erin Clark ’11 M.F.S., who is now the Yellowstone Program Manager at Ecology Project International; Peter Caligiuri ’10 M.E.M., the Central Oregon Forest Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy; and Patrick Holmes M.E.M. ‘08, Special Assistant to the U.S. Undersecretary of Natural Resources in Washington, D.C.
 
Fiedler and Shively join current Wyss Scholars on campus: Katie Holsinger’16 M.E.M., Elliott Vander Kolk ’16 M.F., Chelsea Lane-Miller ’17 LAW, and Lizzie Marsters ’16 M.E.M./M.B.A.