The SPIKE Center Launches Inaugural Cohort of SPIKE Student Scholars

The first inaugural cohort of SPIKE Student Scholars is up and running. Eleven students chosen from nearly one hundred applicants represent every college across the 鶹ѰBoulder campus. There is range from an undergraduate freshman in Education to a graduate PhD student in Chemistry working together to be change agents advancing sustainability education on the 鶹ѰBoulder campus and beyond. Thisrepresentative group of 鶹Ѱstudents form an innovative community of practice and engage in activities thatco-create,promote,and advance sustainability education initiatives at 鶹Ѱthrough the SPIKE Center. In the spirit of “nothing about us without us,” these students participate in designing and defining the roles, responsibilities, duties, and opportunities of and for SPIKE student engagement. They also contribute to establishing criteria and protocols for support and funding by the SPIKE Center for proposed initiatives and projects. They plan events for a wide variety of students to co-imagine and contribute their ideas and priorities for student engagement within the SPIKE Center. In addition, SPIKE scholars participate in outreach to disseminate their own sustainability work and the work of the SPIKE Center within our community, throughout the state, nationally, and internationally.We are grateful for the good-natured enthusiasm of this first cohort as we build the bridge as we cross it together. Our first student-created event will be on April 6, 2026, 5-6PM at CASE E390 where we will craft pencil bags out of repurposed materials while discussing effective approaches and techniques for providing testimony for environmental policy deliberations, all with great snacks, of course! Please direct any interested students to check us out at the Expo Hall from 4-6PM April 15th at the 鶹ѰSustainability Summit or to reach out directly to the Associate Faculty Director for Student Engagement, Beth Osnes-Stoedefalke at beth.osnes@colorado.edu.
More information about the Student Scholars program can be found on this page.
Here is a full roster of this cohort of scholars:
| Aisha | O'Neil | Senior | History, Political Science (PSCI-BA) |
| Cindy | Wong | Doctorate | Chemical Engineering (CHEN-PHD) |
| Larissa | Harrison | Masters | Music (MUSM-MMUS) |
| Naomi | Jepkemei | Masters | Master of the Environment (ENVR-MENV) |
| Claire | Legg | Junior | Environmental Studies (ENVS-BA) |
| Jack | Ryan | Sophomore | Management (MGMT-BSBA) |
| Kit | Irizarry | Sophomore | Leadership/CommunityEngagement (LDCE-BA) |
| Kylie | Clabaugh | Sophomore | Sust Planning & Urban Design (PLAN-BEV) |
| Mariah | Rosensweig | Senior | Leadership/CommunityEngagement (LDCE-BA), Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EBIO-BA) |
| Mary | Fofana | Masters in Law | Natural Resources Energy and Environmental law |
| Talin | Shefman | Sophomore | Aerospace Engineering Sciences (ASEN-BSAE) |