Announcing Madeleine Wallace as the 2025-2026 Lovejoy-Carson Scholar

Every year, the Lovejoy Center sponsors an excellent graduate student in a year-long fellowship through the University of Arizona Carson Scholars Program. This competitive program trains cohorts of scholars in the art of public communication, helping them explore their motivations and develop their stories for specialist and non-specialist audiences. 

 

The Lovejoy Center selects a student whose research is related to the environment and its intersection with social justice. That student becomes the Lovejoy-Carson Scholar, receiving a $5,000 scholarship and joining a network of over 100 alumni.

 

Please join us in congratulating Maddie Wallace, the 2025-2026 Lovejoy-Carson Scholar!

 

Maddie is a second-year PhD student in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and a member of Dr. Rachel M. Mitchell's lab. Her research examines how climate change influences plant community resilience and ecosystem function in arid landscapes. She is especially interested in research that is co-created with community partners, grounded in equity, and designed to integrate diverse knowledge systems to advance solutions that are both impactful and locally relevant.

 

Maddie earned her BS in Environmental Science from the University of Portland and previously worked as a project manager for an ecological restoration company in the Pacific Northwest, where collaborating with local communities sparked her passion for science communication. Today, she strives to bridge ecological research and public engagement to support more inclusive and sustainable stewardship of natural resources. Outside of her research, Maddie enjoys sewing, reading speculative fiction, and spending time outdoors.