School honored for supporting Peace Corps

Left to right are Eileen Conoboy of the Peace Corps; Carol Lewis, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences; Jennifer Carroll, acting vice chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education; and UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers. 

UAF and SNRAS were praised by visiting Peace Corps regional manager Eileen Conoboy April 24. Presenting a plaque to Chancellor Brian Rogers, Conoboy extolled the support that SNRAS and Rural, Community, and Native Education have shown the Master’s International program.

SNRAS has had one student, Erin Kelly, complete the program, with another, Matthew Helt, in Paraguay. The rural program has two students in the field. The Master’s International program combines graduate study with Peace Corps volunteer service.

The degree offered by SNRAS is a master of science in natural resources management, and may focus on horticulture, soil science, agronomy, animal science, forest ecology, silviculture, resource economics, land planning, parks and recreation management, or resource policy. Students accepted into the program complete two semesters of coursework, then receive a two-year Peace Corps volunteer assignment. Courses are selected by the student and his or her advisory committee based on undergraduate experience, degree requirements, and particular interests of the student.

“This is not just a resume builder,” said Tony Gasbarro, UAF professor emeritus and the campus coordinator for Master’s International. “The student has to have a sincere interest in helping the poor in the underdeveloped world. They need compassion for people in the Third World.”

Natural Resources Associate Professor Susan Todd, academic contact for the Master’s International program with SNRAS, said, “Having some courses in a graduate program focused on international issues is a good thing since Americans tend to know very little about foreign countries. This program takes the coursework a step further by placing students in another country for two years. With globalization everything is connected. Even if we ignore the rest of the world it does affect us.” Todd is glad that interest in the program is growing.

Gasbarro is also pleased. “International experience only helps students,” he said. The host country gets the technical experience of graduate students, and also becomes more aware of what Americans are like. “It’s a cultural interchange,” Gasbarro said. Often it’s outside of work that volunteers make the best connections. “They can provide so much—English courses, soccer games, community involvement, sharing other skills.”

The program helps students develop skills for the global marketplace and gain job placement support, Gasbarro said.

Further reading:
“Salvadoran challenges,” December 2007, by LJ Evans, UAF Newsroom