Oforiwaa Pee Agyei-Boakye

Since my time as an Au Sable Graduate Fellow, I have been pursuing a Ph.D. in Transport Geography, with a focus on the Rea Vaya BRT system in Johannesburg, South Africa. My research investigates the alignment of the system’s design with local travel needs, particularly for those in marginalized peripheral areas, as well as its socio-economic and travel impacts on residents with and without access to the system. My time as an Au Sable Fellow solidified my commitment to understanding the environmental and social dimensions of transportation systems, and it’s driven me to approach my research with a focus on community well-being and accessibility. For current or prospective Fellows, my advice would be to fully engage with the multidisciplinary perspectives offered through the fellowship. These insights are invaluable as you progress in research and in addressing complex real-world challenges.

Ryan O’Connor

I work as an ecologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, documenting and conserving high-quality examples of native plant communities throughout the state. As the state's lead natural community ecologist, I conduct botanical inventories and consult with site managers to ensure remnant prairies, savannas, forests, and wetlands maintain high ecological integrity. I also help to develop and implement climate adaptation resources, ecological monitoring frameworks to aid prioritization and decision making, and help the state to protect rare species and ecologically important places on the landscape.

As a grad student and later as a young professional, it was refreshing to meet like-minded people who were serious about both science and their faith and were passionate about the thoughtful intersection of the two. As a person of faith, it can be a lonely place in academia or early in your professional career, and I benefited from a community of peers as well as mentors who supported me intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.

Christianity in America today is (and maybe always has been) entangled in a great number of cultural and political issues. Don't let that derail your faith. The enemy wants you to feel discouraged and isolated. Au Sable wants you to feel encouraged and in deeper community with others. We need more people steeped in the beautiful reality of God's plan for restoration and mending, and our role in it. Join us!

Kevin Orner

I participated in the Grad Fellows program while in graduate school at the University of South Florida between 2015-2017. In 2018 I lived in Monteverde, Costa Rica while on a Fulbright Research grant and investigated the recovery of energy and fertilizer from animal manure. From 2019-2021 I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley researching the recovery of nutrients from waste streams. I am currently an Assistant Professor at West Virginia University in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering where I teach courses in environmental engineering and sustainable development engineering, advise graduate students, and research resource recovery.

I view my research in recovering valuable nutrients, energy, and water from wastewater and organic waste as creation care work. My time as a Fellow as well as the mentorship I received from Christian mentors who've worked in academic settings such as Terry Morrison and Cal DeWitt to be very formative in my professional journey. 

Your faith and your vocation can overlap in very meaningful ways! 

Caleb Redick

After graduate school I worked for Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources for another 5 years as research staff, examining reforestation of reclaimed coal mines and other issues in hardwood regeneration with Dr. Douglass Jacobs. I have been able to publish 4 papers and one extension publication, including a paper on the research I did at Au Sable as an undergraduate student, which was coauthored by many other Au Sable folks. This year I left Purdue and began working for the Army Corps of Engineers as a forester on the Mississippi River where I am working to regenerate bottomland hardwood forests.

For one I still have the book collection I used the book scholarship funds on, and I am still reading through the collection. I also met people at the retreat who gave me lots of good advice, ranging from how to invest in ESG mutual funds to how to choose a place to live and settle down. It's also good to know there are other people out there who share some of my most deeply held convictions.

Don't let your educational aspirations get in the way of your life and your calling. If you know you want to get a PhD or be a professor, then by all means go for it, but if you are not sure, don't be afraid to take a few years and work in the field you are interested in!

Steve Roels

After finishing my PhD, I worked as a natural resource manager in an open space program in the Denver suburbs (2019-2022) and I now work for American Bird Conservancy as the Kirtland's Warbler Program Director. If Au Sable Fellows want to see Kirtland's some time, let me know!

I have crossed paths with several fellows in my cohort over the years. The Au Sable community has remained part of my personal and professional network. My time as a fellow helped me form a clarity of purpose that I have been able to share with others, but also been able to lean on myself in times of uncertainty.

Persistence during the degree and after. Success in graduate school is not primarily driven by "intelligence"; it's grad school--everyone here is smart! Success is far more a function of those who can persist, deal with setbacks, push through challenges, and not lose sight of the end goal. The post-graduation job market is not all that dissimilar; while some graduates will find great jobs right away, many others will struggle to find a good fit. This can be frustrating and cause second-guessing by those struggling, but it is a feature of developing a highly-specific skill set that is often misunderstood outside academia. Graduates should focus on the many transferable skills they have (every graduate student gets a degree in Project Management by default) and also not give up if they know where they want their career to go and they're not there yet.

Abigail Tamkin

The Grad Fellows Program was the best part of grad school and I'm so thankful for all the relationships built and thinking and learning I got to do. I've been teaching undergrads (Fluid Mechanics and Land Surveying) at Ohio State for almost five years now, and the impact of my Au Sable experience is seen in how I think about my students and value them as people. One of the key doctrines I got to spend time with during my Au Sable years is the Imago Dei, or image of God. When thinking about crafting new activities or lectures for class, or writing a diversity or teaching statement for professional development, the foundational motivator for me is the Imago Dei: I want all my students to feel valued, be challenged, and be equipped to do good work in the world because they bear God's image here on earth.

Since my time at Au Sable I've also had two kids and moved from a condo with a patio to a house with a half acre yard! Some principles, like "Don't buy junk" have been tested (see aforementioned children), but we're continuing to explore what tending and keeping looks like in the spaces where we get to live - the scale is just increased. 

My advice to new grad fellows is this: you're in a busy phase in your life, and it can be tempting to pour your whole life into your research, but you are and will always be more than your work, so make space for play and for friends and thinking about big questions, like how does your work intersect with your faith and how God would have you use the new skills you're developing.

David Wituszynski

I am now working in research and development at Engineering Ministries International, a missions organization that provides engineering and architecture design services to Christian ministries around the world (https://emiworld.org/). I spend a lot of time setting up data storage and visualization systems, and trying to convince people to collect rain data for better stormwater design. But I am also part a working group that is trying to steer the organization toward practical and faithful guidelines for creation care, and I'm piloting some environmental impact assessment techniques, such as a carbon footprint for one of our recent projects here in Uganda.

My time as an Au Sable fellow quite literally shaped how I see the world. Because of it, I feel much more grounded in both my faith and my intellectual life. I am very confident engaging Christians on environmental matters, and engaging environmental scientists on questions of faith. The opportunity to steer EMI's approach to creation care was a major reason I decided to engage with them over the long term.

I would encourage current Graduate Fellows not to shy away from difficult questions. Even though our culture often frames Christianity and the environment as enemies, there are many people who have thought deeply and faithfully about the intersection of Christianity and environmental problems, and Au Sable was a wonderful place for me to encounter them. The world is God’s world, and you can trust that He cares about it.