Phoenix Teacher Receives Wells Fargo Earthwatch Fellowship
PHOENIX, April 16, 2008 – Glenn L. Downs Elementary School teacher Erin Livingston is one of 10 teachers receiving a Wells Fargo Earthwatch Fellowship this year to participate in a research expedition aimed at promoting environmental awareness and a greater understanding of how local activities can affect other areas of the world.
Through the fellowship, Livingston is traveling to the South Shore region of Nova Scotia, Canada, from April 13 to 26. She is conducting hands-on research alongside Drs. Christina Buesching and Chris Newman to explore how the region’s wilderness ecosystem is coping with the impacts of climate change, along with implications for forestry, hunting and tourism considered vital to the local economy.
Using the Earthwatch Live from the Field program, Livingston is sharing her field experiences and photos with her fourth-grade students and classrooms around the country through an interactive website and live conferencing. Students can communicate with their teachers, ask questions and learn about how actions – even simple, everyday actions – affect nature. Livingston’s blog is posted on http://www.earthwatch2.org/LFF/Livingston/.
“This is an exciting opportunity for one of our local teachers to promote environmental stewardship and provide students from Phoenix and across the globe with a rare frontline view of the importance of environmental stewardship,” said Pam Conboy, regional president for Wells Fargo’s Arizona Regional Banking. “At Wells Fargo, we believe it is our responsibility to make sure we do all that’s possible to continue to support education and healthy, sustainable communities.”
“I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to travel to Nova Scotia to enrich my understanding of the impact that global climate changes are having on certain mammals there and bring science, reading and writing to life for my students through dynamic media, like Internet blogging,” Livingston said.
When she is not in the classroom, Livingston enjoys the outdoors, hiking, rock climbing and ice climbing with friends.
“I am looking forward to seeing, first-hand, the impact that global warming is having on certain mammals of Nova Scotia,” she said. “My goal is to bring the lessons learned in the field back to my students in Arizona so they might share in finding solutions to protect our wildlife, not just in Nova Scotia, but back home in Arizona too.”
The 10 teachers were selected based on their enthusiasm for teaching and ability to translate an adventurous field experience to their classroom, colleagues and community. Teachers nominated by Wells Fargo team members received preference and final selections were made to ensure that recipients came from locations across the country. A total of 70 applications were received for this year’s program. Since 2006, 20 teachers have received Wells Fargo Earthwatch fellowships.
 Earthwatch's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Earthwatch is a world leader in the field of experiential education. Each year, the organization provides field research opportunities for more than 3000 volunteers with a commitment to broaden their understanding of sustainability and conservation research. There is no previous research experience necessary to participate and there are hundreds of expeditions worldwide that need volunteer support. Visit www.earthwatch.org or call 800-776-0188 for more information.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $575 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through almost 6,000 stores and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the U.S., and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody’s Investors Service, “Aaa,” and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, “AAA.” Wells Fargo is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “2007 Green Power Partner of the Year.”
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