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Dear Aniruddha,
At the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), celebrating student research is an exciting culmination of each academic year, and this year was no exception. The annual Capstone Conference, held April 9-10, saw students showcasing
the many ways that they have been working hard to invent a better tomorrow.
In addition to other highlights from around SEAS, we share a few examples of master’s capstone projects below, but to get a deeper sense of how awe-inspiring the work of SEAS students is, we hope you’ll take a moment to peruse the
program
booklet, where you’ll find summaries of all 79 presentations given at this year’s conference. It’s full confirmation of what we already know to be true—that SEAS students don’t wait until they graduate to start working toward a sustainable and just
future; they are making real-world impacts as soon as they arrive.
This will be our last newsletter for the academic year, but we’ll look forward to being in touch again in the fall. In the meantime, we hope you’ll have the chance to soak up plenty of sunshine during the summer months.
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SEAS on Social Media
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The U-M
Center for the Education of Women+ (CEW+) named recent SEAS grad Kelsey Campana (MS’26) a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar for her unwavering pursuit of a better future through a commitment to transforming environmental
policy from the ground up. CEW+ started as a pioneering women’s center and now offers resources to the broader U-M community from nontraditional backgrounds.
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On Earth Day, SEAS Assistant Professor Ben Goldstein shared information about his “carbon hoofprint” research, which revealed how meat consumption in U.S. cities rivals the emissions of entire countries, and offered realistic ways to reduce your impact, one
meal at a time.
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SEAS master’s capstone projects
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At SEAS, all students complete a capstone experience, and for the majority, this takes the form of a master’s project or thesis. Below are three stories about master’s capstone project teams.
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SEAS students support community resilience in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica
Six SEAS students had the opportunity to contribute to the preservation of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, home to more than 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. Working with the ReGenerOsa Collective, which supports the local community's efforts to protect and
restore local biodiversity, the master's capstone team analyzed the impacts of tourism, conservation and agriculture on the peninsula’s rural communities.
Read
more
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SEAS capstone team uses mapping, GIS to understand benefits of agroforestry
Four SEAS master’s students worked to make agroforestry accessible to Michigan farmers through their capstone project. The project, “Visualizing Agroforestry,” used mapping and Geographic Information Systems technology with drone imagery to better understand
the benefits of agroforestry, an alternative to traditional monoculture farming.
Read
more
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SEAS master’s project focuses on health, management of tidal marshes in the Chesapeake Bay’s Choptank River
Four SEAS master’s students have been working with Envision The Choptank, a coalition of organizations with a shared goal of protecting the Choptank River of Chesapeake Bay, to provide valuable information about the health and future management of tidal marshes
in the river, which was once known for abundant wetlands and fisheries but has, since 1965, experienced a steady decline in water quality.
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Will Tschetter (BS ’24, MS ’26) is an NCAA National Basketball Champion, and he’s also an aspiring regenerative farmer
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Although 2026 NCAA National Basketball Champion Will Tschetter (BS ’24, MS ’26) has always been interested in environmental issues, he says it was an internship experience working on a bison ranch focused on holistic management and regenerative agriculture
that inspired him to pursue a master’s at SEAS and that, as someone passionate about fishing and being on the water, his master’s project on the Great Lakes was a natural fit. Tschetter says once he retires from basketball, he plans to start his own regenerative
farm.
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How new tools are helping officials, communities work toward environmental justice
SEAS Professor Paul Mohai has published a new report that examined how new tools are leading to innovative policies to protect vulnerable communities from disproportionate environmental burdens.
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Wege Lecturer Paul Polman: Companies that focus on sustainability long-term will thrive
Economic success and environmental responsibility are fundamentally connected, and companies that focus on sustainability as a long-term goal will perform better financially than those that don’t, businessman and author Paul Polman said March 26 during the
Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability.
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The role of local government in climate action amidst federal challenges: How Ann Arbor, Michigan, is still taking bold steps toward sustainability
At a time when climate action is actively being reversed at the federal level, the focus is back on local climate action. In Ann Arbor, the charge is being led by Missy Stults (PhD ’16) through the Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI) and A2ZERO,
the city’s community-wide, equitable and ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Stults, a SEAS and Taubman alum, is the director of the OSI team, which includes four members who are SEAS graduates.
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“The generation of electricity has environmental costs and public health costs. The more that you generate there, the more cost of producing electricity that you have, the more local air pollution that you have, the more global pollution or greenhouse gas
emissions that you have.”
—Michael Craig, associate professor at SEAS, on
KSHB-TV,
discussing the impact of hyperscale data centers proposed to be built in the Kansas City region. The mega data centers are expected to use large amounts of electricity and water.
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“Often in science, you see millions of dollars being invested in [one study] that, at the end of the day, might just produce a very simple result that Indigenous people have known for generations. It suggests that if there was more collaboration, we could
not only save money, but we could stand on the shoulders of Indigenous people and start doing more advanced studies about the ecosystem.”
—SEAS Professor Kyle Whyte, in The
Guardian, discussing how Indigenous expertise is often confirmed by Western methods, and the importance of involving Indigenous people from the early stages of collaborative research.
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Interested in applying to SEAS? We’re here to help. Reach out to
seas-ad...@umich.edu to
speak to an Admissions Coach if you’re interested in learning more about ALL of the opportunities you’ll find at SEAS.
Sincerely,
SEAS Admissions Team
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School for Environment and Sustainability
University of Michigan
Samuel T. Dana Building, 440 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734) 764-6453
Email us: seas-ad...@umich.edu
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This email was sent from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.
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