UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lindsey Swierk, a candidate for a doctoral degree in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program (ecology), has been honored with the 2013 Graduate Student Service Award.
The award, established in 1991, recognizes a graduate student who has best combined high academic achievement with leadership in University or other public activities.
Since she came to Penn State in 2009, Swierk has implemented and participated in many programs designed to extend science beyond the campus. She founded Higher Education Mentoring, a Penn State student organization for mentoring high school students in the Bronx, N.Y., primarily from Spanish-speaking families whose members have not attended college. Through Graduate Women in Science, she coordinated workshops where area Girl Scouts could earn science badges like “Digging Through the Past,” “Plant Life” and “Math, Maps and More.” She has conducted science presentations at WPSU Eventapalooza, Bellefonte Children’s Garden and Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania, a State College children’s museum.
On campus, she has mentored more than 15 undergraduate students, several of whom have conducted independent research projects. In addition, she developed an undergraduate seminar course for students in Associate Professor Tracy Langkilde’s lab, coordinating six graduate students and three postdoctoral students to lead weekly sessions on applying to graduate school, selecting a research project, publishing papers and more.
“Lindsey has made outstanding contributions to outreach, bringing science to the broader community, educating and engaging the next generation of citizens,” one nominator said.
Swierk earned her undergraduate degree in biology and environmental science and her master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania.