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Jonah Kolb "My interest in environmental studies truly developed when outstanding professors and life experiences helped me learn that pursuing environmental studies would allow me to think about everything, all at once." "The growing complexity of today's world demands that we environmentalists understand and fulfill the roles of not just 'nature-lover' and ecologist, but economist, public health expert, attorney, politician, social justice advocate, businessperson. Environmental and social solutions must be one in the same."
Jonah Kolb hikes in a French mountain landscape. Growing up in Topsfield and graduating from St. John's Preparatory School, Jonah Kolb is driven by his motto "Living without risk is meaningless. Life without caution is short." When he's not flying, farming, hunting, hiking, rock climbing – or dancing – Jonah is hard at work. Now, he becomes the first Henry David Thoreau Scholar to receive the Morris K. Udall Scholarship for Excellence in National Environmental Policy in 2005. Udall, a 1976 Democratic Presidential candidate, was regarded as one of the most productive members of Congress in the late 20th century. Like his brother, Stewart, who served as President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of the Interior, Morris advocated environmental protection. Before his death in 1998, he considered the Alaska Lands Act of 1990 one of his chief accomplishments. This legislation doubled the size of the national park system and tripled the size of the national wilderness system. He was also involved in legislation regarding water rights in Arizona, archeological site protection, Native American child welfare, Southwest desert and Alaskan wilderness protection, and many other environmental and health measures.
Jonah Kolb enjoys the desert of Namibia. When Jonah Kolb received his Morris K. Udall Scholarship, the Dartmouth Vox newspaper commented that he demonstrated "outstanding potential and a commitment to pursuing a career in environmentalism" (www.dartmouth.edu/~vox/0405/0418/awards.html). He has also earned other significant academic recognitions, as one of 100 worldwide Goldman Sachs Fellows in 2004 and a Rufus Choate Scholar at the College. This summer, Jonah completed a three-month internship with Moore & Warner Farm Management in Illinois. The company provides professional management services on farms all across the Midwest. During his senior year, he will participate in Dartmouth's Environmental Studies Foreign Study Program in Southern Africa. He considers himself "fortunate to see the world and travel to South America, Europe and Africa. Spending time abroad doing service and academics has contextualized my work in environmental studies. Where I was once interested in the environment for outdoor recreation... I now find myself engaged in dialogues about social justice, global economics and social values." After Dartmouth, he hopes to work for a state or federal agency such as the EPA, USDA, or environmental division of an Attorney General's office. Other goals are to attend graduate school for joint degrees in law and environmental sciences, then to work in the United States and Africa. |
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