Clarissa Casper Awarded Presidential Fellowship

Clarissa Casper Awarded Presidential Fellowship    

Creative Writing master’s student Clarissa Casper has been awarded a Presidential Fellowship with the Rachel Carson Council. Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and conservationist who combined her scientific knowledge with prose and poetry. The mission of the Rachel Carson Council is to carry on Carson’s work in environmental justice through writing, activism, and outreach. “As a Presidential Fellow,” Clarissa says, “I will be regularly writing blog posts for the Rachel Carson Council website on the Great Salt Lake and other Utah environmental issues.”  

As part of the fellowship, Clarissa attended the American Environmental Leadership Institute near Washington, D.C. The leadership training focused on the environmental policies of D.C., as well as how to responsibly report on climate issues. Clarissa described the experience as a great opportunity: “I met senators who have worked on environmental issues, learned how to engage my community on these issues, met other fellows from around the United States, and spent a lot of time in the Maryland woods writing poetry.” 

Clarissa said she plans to write environmental nonfiction for her thesis, and this fellowship will help her in her writing career as she receives one-on-one writing mentoring. She notes, “I also hope this fellowship will inform my work as a journalist by helping me identify issues in my community that need attention.”