This letter begins with immense gratitude for my past self. I am so amazed and thankful for her for feeling so eager to experience the world, and then proving it to herself by making it happen. In a way, I still cannot believe that you threw yourself into completely new academic, social, and physical situations…

Ten days ago, my classmates and I began our trip around Wyoming to broaden our new knowledge about the geography and ecology of the West. We watched sunrises, camped in the badlands, visited incredible geographical formations, and swam in the Tetons. Although we all found it exhausting, every day was incredibly fulfilling and edifying. The…

My independent project is investigating how landscape affects sound. More specifically, I am researching how altitude, temperature, wind, medium, and material manipulate sound, and applying that research to the Spring Creek Preserve. During my time on the preserve, many people, including myself, noticed how unpredictable sound travelled within it. For example, cows a quarter mile…

At surface value, the natural environment is already imposing. Studying it has further amplified that effect because the entirety of what we are experiencing now has existed for the entirety of Earth’s history. Observing the composition and properties of a single grain of sand or a complete biome could be made into a demandingly infinite…

Wyoming’s reputation stems more from a broad assumption of the greater American West. Personally, I believed that it was a land of plain and rough cowboys and cowgirls with deeply patriotic ancestry. I imagined that there were not enough people around to expose them to a fair number of perspectives in order for them to…

A canvas of tan and green extends for miles over open fields and hills, and communities of repetitive green plants are interrupted by rocks that are more colorful. The ground is dry and sparse, and most of the grasses do not grow large. At first, the Spring Creek Reserve seems incredibly unspectacular to an untrained…

Hi! My name is Amy, and I’m a rising sophomore in the Swanson School of Engineering and the Honors College. As of last month, I am officially an environmental engineering major, and I am also pursuing a minor in chemistry and a certificate in sustainability. After my undergraduate degree, I am interested in focusing on…