Earth Angels

President Miller was referring to longtime Virginia Wesleyan friends and benefactors Prudence and Louis Ryan. Along with being a member of the VWU Board of Trustees since 2007, Louis Ryan has served since 2006 on the board of directors of the Elizabeth River Project, an important partner of VWU and Batten Honors College. In his opening remarks, Ryan explained why he and his wife, who share the philanthropic passions of education and the environment, chose to create a $150,000 endowment to support the research symposium and fund its prizes.

“What a good education does,” Ryan said, “is teach you how to think. And what I mean is thinking critically, creatively and holistically. Doing that is really necessary to guarantee the survival and thriving of humanity.” Environmental research, he said, is the perfect place to both learn those skills and practice them.

“This symposium creates a natural opportunity for students—and faculty, for that matter—to engage in this kind of thinking and to hopefully do meaningful research that will add to our knowledge of the issues we face with our environment and how we should deal with those issues.”

As the event came to a close, the winner of the Ryan Environmental Prize for Excellence in Research was announced: Abby Peterson for her research on the benefits of urban tree planting. She received a $750 cash prize and a $750 donation in her name to the nonprofit environmental organization of her choosing.

Peterson’s research involved working with Virginia Beach’s Chimney Hill community on the steps involved in a tree-planting project, including applying for a grant to fund it.

“When I came to Virginia Wesleyan four years ago,” she said, “I wasn't even sure climate change was a real thing. Now I'm so thankful to be part of this symposium's history. And I'm grateful to my professors and everyone involved in the Batten Honors College for helping me learn how to conduct this research and utilize community partnerships.”