DURHAM, N.C. – The Nicholas School of the Environment and the Duke University Marine Lab honored four outstanding graduating seniors with special awards today during the school’s graduation recognition event for undergraduates.
Jwalin Patel of India received the Sara LaBoskey Award, which is presented annually to a graduating senior in recognition of personal integrity and academic excellence.
A double major in Economics and Environmental Sciences and Policy, Patel earned Graduation with Distinction honors for his senior thesis, “Impact of Local Input and Non-Timber Benefits on Rates of Return on Investment in Forest Restoration in India and China.”
Among many other academic accomplishments, he was a Rachel Carson Scholar and studied wellbeing in small-scale fisheries through the Duke Immerse program on “Oceans, Humans and Environmental Health” at the Duke Marine Lab. He also served as a research associate on the Bass Connections “Conservation Finance and COVID-19” project coordinated by the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the nonprofit Conservation Measures Partnership and interned with the World Wildlife Fund.
Following graduation, Patel plans to join the staff of IDInsight, a global advisory organization that uses data- and evidence-based tools to combat poverty in Asia and Africa.
Maria Morrison of Port Townsend, Wash., received the Thomas V. Laska Award, which is presented annually in recognition of outstanding achievement by a graduating senior majoring in Earth and Ocean Sciences.
Morrison, who also majored in Political Science with a Certificate in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, participated in two Bass Connections research projects, one that examined the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s implementation around the world, and one that analyzed the health of the Ellerbee Creek watershed in Durham. As an Earth and Ocean Sciences major, her particular interest was in the geology of the Paleozoic era.
After graduation, she plans to pursue an international master’s degree in security and diplomacy before attending Harvard Law School in 2024, with plans to possibly pursue a career in environmental law.
Maddie Paris of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., received the Marine Science and Conservation Award, which is presented annually by the Duke Marine Lab faculty to a graduating senior in recognition of excellence in scholarship, research, and citizenship.
Paris double majored in Biology and Environmental Sciences with concentrations in ecology and marine science and conservation. She was a Rachel Carson Scholar, president of the Duke Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and the recipient of a Bass Connections Research Award. She spent four semesters at the Duke Marine Lab and completed her senior thesis on “Understanding Variance in Marsh Predator Disturbance Patterns in Pacific Estuaries,” for which she earned Graduation with Distinction honors.
After graduation, she plans to continue her research career and apply to PhD programs in marine mammal conservation.
David Hugo of Richmond, Va., received the Maggie Schneider Award, which is presented annually by the Department of Biology to a graduating senior selected by the Duke Marine Lab faculty in recognition of a demonstrated love of learning and service in marine and conservation biology.
Hugo double majored in Biology and Environmental Sciences with a concentration in marine science and conservation. He was a Rachel Carson Scholar, spent two semesters at the Marine Lab, and interned at NOAA to research the impacts of dams on migratory fish species. That work led to his senior thesis,” The Dangers of Going with the Flow: Using Autonomous Transmitters to Document Downstream Passage Conditions and Risk of Fish Injury at Dams,” for which he earned Graduation with Distinction honors.
Following graduation, Hugo will begin an aquaculture internship at the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hampton, Va.
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