Nine Reed students have won grants to pursue summer projects to promote peace and strengthen understanding, and two of the projects feature environmental chemistry.
Environmental studies-chemistry major Celebrity Nyikadzino ’17 won a $10,000 grant to help villagers in Zimbabwe lift themselves out of poverty.
Celebrity Nyikadzino ’17, an environmental studies-chemistry major, was selected for a Davis Projects for Peace for her project “A Step toward Hope: Education and Self Reliance.” Celebrity will be implementing the project this summer in Chivhu, her home village in Zimbabwe.
“I grew up with many talented kids by my side,” she says. “Unfortunately, most of my friends had to drop out of school because they could not afford the cost of education.” Celebrity intends to use the $10,000 award to address poverty by teaching community members how to sew and also how to market and maintain a business using the finished products. Her goal is to create ways for families to have the means to return their children to school and to keep them there. “I also aim to bring my community together through cooperation in the project, and by creating a support group for sharing struggles and successes.”
Since 2007, Davis Projects for Peace has welcomed proposals from undergraduate students (including current seniors) for projects that they will implement during summer break. The projects judged to be the most promising and do-able are funded.
Josh Tsang ’18, environmental studies-chemistry
Over the summer, Josh will be working with a Portland environmental nonprofit, We Love Clean Rivers to conduct water quality monitoring in rivers around Portland and to organize several cleanup events along those rivers. “WLCR helps combat water pollution and assists in raising the standard of water quality across Oregon by broadening community engagement with river restoration activities and increasing the recreational watersports community’s understanding of threats to watershed health.” By working with WLCR’s team to both conduct scientific research and raise awareness for the local environment, Josh hopes to better understand the science and policy sides of environmental issues. Through this experience, Josh intends to apply what he’s learned in the classroom in the field, and to forge numerous connections with Portland’s leading environmental institutions. “Working in and around Portland, my work will directly benefit Reed and the greater Portland community by helping to preserve the cleanliness of the numerous rivers in Oregon.”