Extension’s own Charlotte Thompson was recently awarded a selective and prestigious recognition from the University of New Hampshire’s Graduate School. By day, Charlotte is Extension’s Stewardship Outreach Program Manager, and by night, she has been working on her Master’s degree in Natural Resources & the Environment. Her master’s research focuses on understanding the motivations of environmental volunteers—a timely and impactful research topic. Charlotte is conducting this project while working full-time on stewardship projects and programs, such as Nature Groupie. Nature Groupie’s mission is to engage community members in environmental and citizen science projects across the region and, according to her nominators, Charlotte exemplifies this mission through her professional and academic work.
Additional comments from her nominators focused on Charlotte’s exceptional dedication to outreach and public engagement. Charlotte’s dual commitment to her employment and her research highlights her focus on advancing community involvement and environmental stewardship. With support from her supervisor, Malin Clyde, and Master’s program adviser, Shannon Rogers, Charlotte deliberately aligned her research with Extension’s goals. Charlotte was committed to designing a thesis that would “apply to and advance [the] Extension work in outdoor volunteer engagement.” By analyzing over a decade of Nature Groupie data and conducting interviews with past volunteers, Charlotte’s graduate work seeks to understand what motivates people to volunteer.
Charlotte was selected for this award across all of the Master’s programs at UNH. Only one award for Graduate Student Public Engagement and Outreach is given to Master’s students each year.
College of Life Sciences and Agriculture Graduate Program Information
