Maureen Copeland
Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
Major: Environmental Science
Minors: Psychology
During Maureen Copeland’s second semester at Allegheny, Professor Rich Bowden invited her to spend the summer as a research assistant. As part of a larger national project, they would seek to determine effects of global warming by measuring soil properties. Allegheny’s Bousson Experimental Forest, a 283- acre tract of natural woodlands seven miles east of campus, served as their research site.
“I was really surprised,” Maureen says about being offered a chance to do research. “I figured on having another typical summer job at the grocery store.”
Instead, Maureen not only earned money, but gained valuable field experience, had a “personal tutor,” and made useful connections. They traveled to the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Site in Massachusetts and other research locations. “It was awesome to be a part of this group of researchers… working with Professor Bowden did much more than give me something to do for three months,” she says. “It helped me discover all the opportunities that are out there.”
In fact, Maureen has been accepted to spend a semester at the Ecosystems Center in Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts (one of the places they visited) where she’ll study aquatic ecosystems.
A member of both the cross-country and track teams and someone who “would be happy working outside for the rest of [her] life,” Maureen values the natural environment. “I would really like to find a career that would make the outdoors a cleaner place,” she says.
