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April 26, 2016 ������ Tri-Cities students earn statewide honors for service

By Maegan Murray, ������ Tri-Cities

SEATTLE – Three Washington State University Tri-Cities students will be honored today with the Washington Campus Compact Presidents’ Award as part of the statewide Students Serving Washington Awards program 3-5 p.m. at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The award recognizes students at Washington Campus Compact () member institutions who have exhibited exceptional leadership and commitment to serving their communities.

������ Tri-Cities Chancellor Keith Moo-Young said the awardees are outstanding examples of students using their ������ educational opportunities to better their communities and the environment.

“From building a house for a family that spent years in poverty in a refugee camp, to expanding upon ������ Tri-Cities’ mission for sustainable practices, to researching means to improve crops in times of climate change, these students are taking advantage of opportunities for service leadership and changing lives for the better,” he said.

The ������ Tri-Cities honorees are:

Brent Ellis, a senior environmental science student who is also up for the Outstanding Service Award from Washington Campus Compact. He has led construction efforts for the Coug House, a home that ������ Tri-Cities is building for a family of Burmese refugees in partnership with Tri-County Partners Habitat for Humanity.

Elinor Lake, a junior biological sciences student who is the ������ Tri-Cities environmental club president and a finalist for the national Udall Undergraduate Scholarship. She is helping organize a redesign of the campus recycling program and is leading efforts with the club for cleanup days around the mid-Columbia region.

Melanie Ford, a sophomore viticulture and enology student who is working on ways to overcome climate change. She spent the last several years studying its effects on ecosystems in New Zealand cave environments. At ������ Tri-Cities, she researches climate change’s impacts on Washington agriculture, specifically wine and table grapes.

Contacts:
Maegan Murray, ������ Tri-Cities public relations specialist, 509-372-7333,maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu