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Ross Lieb-Lappen "One of my friends and I decided to start Dialogues for Peace, a student organization that discusses conflicts across the globe. This year we thrived as an organization. I also completed an AmeriCorps Education Award Only program ...[with more than] 300 hours of public service. Overall, I had an amazing year at Middlebury and I can barely wait to begin my junior year."
Ross Lieb-Lappen Even in a crowd, you can't miss Ross Lieb-Lappen. It's not only that he's tall, but also that he wears an infectious smile that lights up a room. He radiates enthusiasm for everything he does, especially when it comes to environmental activity. Plus, he's among a core group of Henry David Thoreau Scholars who help set up and greet guests at our organization's annual luncheon in the spring. Generosity of spirit comes naturally to him. He is the third of four students from Cohasset High School to be named Henry David Thoreau Scholars in as many consecutive years. His sophomore activities have been singular, both in terms of academics and public service. What will next year bring? Undoubtedly, more success. Ross carries a demanding program as an Environmental Studies major, with a focus on chemistry. His Henry David Thoreau Scholar advisor, Professor Peter Ryan, chairs the Environmental Studies Department at Middlebury. Ross' favorite class during 2004-05 was Winter Lake Coring. "Despite zero-degree weather, we drilled into the ice of an Adirondack lake and pulled three cores of the lake sediment up to 20 feet deep. In the lab, we analyzed the soil and layers [into several categories]. From these results, we were able to learn about the climate of the area over the last several hundred years," he explains. During this past summer, he interned with Ecosphere Environmental Services, an environmental consulting firm in Durango, Colorado. "I worked 35-40 hours a week for eight weeks there and truly learned what it is like to be an environmental consultant." He carried out aspects of biological surveying with a field biologist, plus some research and report writing. "Environmental consulting remains a possible career path, and I'm glad I was able to gain some experience." While he talks about his "amazing year" at Middlebury College, Ross describes the second annual 24-hour Cancer Relay that he and a friend organized. When both of them launched it a year ago, it was the first time such a fundraiser was held at the college. Initially, it raised $83,000, and the following year, more than $175,000. More than 76 teams and 1,200 people were involved, including the governor of Vermont as keynote speaker. Another student group that Ross and a friend started, Dialogues for Peace, held two large symposia focusing on the conflicts in Bosnia and Russia/Chechnya. He also joined Middlebury Hillel in a trip to El Salvador. The group lived in a small rural community and took part in a sustainable development project. As his sophomore year drew to a close, he received special awards. The first one, the John M. McCardell, Jr., Public Service Award, was for "bringing the College and Town of Middlebury together for a public benefit." The second, the Franklin G. Williams and Sara H. Williams Award, was for a sophomore "on the basis of deep human qualities of natural kindness, perceptivity of the needs and feelings of others, and an abiding sense of personal responsibility." Those words sum up Ross, a Henry David Thoreau Scholar who fits them perfectly. |
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