UMR Students Shine at 2025 Sustainability Symposium

Four University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) students, Abrielle Williams, Alisia Hull, Ellie Glende and Yassin Kolley were honored at the 2025 system-wide Sustainability Symposium. 

Williams and Hull both received Student Impact Awards. This recognition honors current undergraduate and graduate student efforts that are leading the way toward a future in which people and the environment prosper together. 

Williams was recognized for her innovative research on the connections between environmental justice and health care. Through UMR’s EcoliteracySCHOOL mentorship program, she focused on greenspace gentrification and brought these important conversations into classrooms and public spaces, using art and discussion to engage both college and high school students. 

Hull was honored for her experiential work in renewable energy and public health, which she deepened through her participation in the Germany: Leading the Renewables Revolution Experience study away program. Upon her return to campus, she shared her international experience and advocated for environmental planning in UMR's future infrastructure.

At the symposium, Glende and Kolley won the Sustainability Symposium Poster Award for their research titled “Wataaa Quality in Belize: A Survey of Water Resources.” Their project was part of a study abroad experience through the course BIOL 3355: Ecosystems and Ecotourism in Belize, which included traveling to Belize for three weeks this past January, followed by an on-campus course component.