Meet our 2023-2024 Student Fellows!

 

We’re excited to introduce our Shi Institute Student Sustainability Fellows for the current academic year! Here’s a little bit about them and their favorite experiences at Furman:

Kerry Black ’24 of Greenville, S.C., is a senior sustainability science major and our Recycling Fellow for the 2023-2024 year. His interest in this position came from his previous experience working the recycling route for Furman Facilities and from his desire to reduce the possibility of contamination with recycling bins on campus. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his roommates, taking walks in the woods, journaling, and drawing.

Victoria Bostrom ’24 is a senior environmental conservation biology major from Blythewood, S.C. This year, she is the Woodlands at Furman Sustainability Fellow. Victoria loves to hike and go on trail rides with her horses in her free time. She is passionate about this fellowship for many reasons, but ultimately, she has a heart for sustainability education and collaborating with the community at The Woodlands.

Marie Cecil ’24 of Charleston, S.C., is this year’s Data Visualization Fellow. She is a double major in earth and environmental science and music. Marie was interested in this fellowship and working at the Shi Institute because she learned about coding over the summer doing research. She wanted to learn more about the data visualization processes that are a major part of sustainability projects. For hobbies, Marie loves to do anything outdoors, especially backpacking, surfing, and rock climbing. If she’s not outside, she likes to practice piano and read.

Anna DeMino ’26 of Gaithersburg, Md., is the Eco Rep Fellow for the Shi Institute this year.  Entering her second year as a Fellow, she is so excited to see the full circle of her experiences, working with departmental sustainability last year and now student sustainability this year. So far, she has loved getting to work closer with the amazing Aru Sakhariyanova and Joy Baker. When not exclaiming facts about sustainability, Anna enjoys reading mindless RomCom books, making playlists and digital scrapbooks. Spending time with her friends playing card games and taking walks around campus has been the glue to her year so far.

Stella Frisbie ‘25 is a junior Environmental Conservation Biology major and is an Eco Rep Fellow this semester. She is from Washington, NC and enjoys spending her free time outside, especially hiking, skiing, and swimming in waterfalls. Stella pursued this fellowship with the Shi Institute because she was interested in environmental education, making sustainable change on campus, and being a leader in a club that she has loved during her time at Furman. She is so excited to see what the Reps can accomplish this semester!

Ellie Howard ’25 is majoring in sociology and Spanish and is the Alternative Transportation Fellow. She is from Atlanta, Ga., and this is her first year working at the Shi Institute! She oversees the bike rental program along with other projects to promote different forms of transportation on campus. Ellie’s main hobby is biking, and she also enjoys spending time with her dog. She was interested in this fellowship because she loves to bike and wants to extend that opportunity for others on campus.

William James ’26 of Greer, S.C., is the Student Assistant Compost Fellow. He is an environmental and conservation biology major and is interested in declaring in applied mathematics. He is very interested in B movies and film in general. His other hobbies include biking, hiking, and reading. What interested him about the Compost Fellowship was the tangible benefit it has for the Furman community and beyond. Also, he enjoys the hands-on work that the job offers.

Summer Marsden ’25 of Apex, N.C., is the Climate Assessment Fellow. She is double majoring in sustainability science and philosophy, and was drawn to the fellowship after a successful and enjoyable fellowship at the Shi Institute this past summer. Throughout the fellowship, she will be working closely with Laura Bain on updates to Furman’s Climate Action Plan. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends (especially outdoors), reading, and working out.

Molly McCutcheon ’24 is an Eco Rep Fellow for the Shi Institute this year. She is a senior Mathematics and Japanese Studies double major from Germantown, MD. In her free time, Molly loves to listen to music, play video games and go on walks to enjoy nature. She has been an Eco Rep since her freshman year and is excited to get the opportunity to lead this semester. So far, it has been amazing to work with Stella Frisbie and the staff at the Shi Institute. She can’t wait to make an impact during her last semester at Furman.

Reagan Ogburn ’24 of Raleigh, N.C., is this year’s Campus Assessment Fellow and is double majoring in sustainability science and urban studies. She pursued this fellowship with the Shi Institute because she wants to gain experience applying what she has been learning in the classroom during her four years at Furman to real life scenarios. Reagan also wants to understand campus sustainability on a deeper level and learn more about sustainability assessments. Outside of school, she enjoys art, spending time with friends and family, and being outdoors.

Andres Ospina ’24 of Greenville, S.C., is double majoring in sustainability science and philosophy. Andres is this year’s Communications and Outreach Fellow and was drawn to this position because of his passion of working and communicating with individuals from all different kinds of backgrounds. He wanted to learn more about how to communicate sustainability to people across different mediums and platforms. In his free time, he enjoys collecting CDs, spending time with friends, biking and going hiking with others.

Aru Sakhariyanova ’26 is an Eco Rep Fellow from Astana, Kazakhstan. She is majoring in sustainability science and communication studies on the media track. She is interested in the outdoors, traveling, and music. She enjoys swimming, hiking, and watching movies in her free time. Aru also enjoys working as an Eco Rep Fellow as it allows her to better connect with students with similar interests and pursue different sustainability-related projects on any scale!

Anna Timbes ’26 of Columbia, S.C., is majoring in sustainability science and studio art. She is serving as the Student Assistant Farm Manager for the Furman Farm. She was interested in this fellowship because she has always enjoyed the outdoors and wanted to apply her sustainability knowledge towards a good cause. The Shi Institute works to promote sustainable living habits and included in that are sustainable food systems, which is something Anna is very passionate about. Her hobbies including hiking, biking, photography, and reading.