The Matilda Levy Paper award on Environmental Sustainability honors Teachers College students for outstanding papers on the intersection of environmental sustainability with oner or more of the College’s three pillars: Education, Psychology, and Health.
This award was first offered for the 2022–23 academic year with ten students submitting papers from across five Academic Departments: Arts & Humanities, Clinical & Counseling Psychology, Curriculum & Teaching, International & Transcultural Studies, and Math, Science and Technology.
There were two winners of the award.
Ray Chen, a student in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, received the award for the paper, Fatalism and Optimism: Young and Older Perspectives on the Human-Nature Relationship which explored how young and old adults view the natural environment.
Erika Kessler, a student in International & Transcultural Studies, received the award for the paper, What Future Are We Studying For? School Engagement and Youth Agency in the Youth Climate Movement which was her doctoral dissertation that she defended in May 2023 the paper explores how youth can build their agency to be climate advocates.
Additionally, Gareth Brinkworth, a student in International & Transcultural Studies received honorable mention for the paper, Future Risks and Past Wisdom: Temporally Expanding the Epistemology of Existential Threat Education, which explore why we need to consider emerging threats such as artificial intelligence for unintended negative consequences on the environment.
Congratulations to Ray, Erika, and Gareth. Please watch for more information on nominations for the 2023–24 academic year. All Teachers College students are eligible to apply and self-nominations as well as nominations from faculty and staff are welcome.