Our Mission:
The ENSP Student Advisory Board (ENSPire) exists to bring together ENSP majors and to voice ENSP students’ concerns and suggestions about the ENSP program to staff, faculty, and administrators. With twelve different concentrations spanning 3 advising colleges, ENSPire works hard to create a sense of community within the major across our diverse interests.
- Examples of Past Events: Choose your Concentration, Faculty and Staff Q&A, Dog Walking, Campus Creek Clean-up, Campus Garden Volunteering, Walk Along Lake Artemesia,
- Examples of Past Event Partners: UMD Arboretum, Prince George’s County Animal Shelter, UMD Community Learning Garden, BSOS Student Advisory Board, AGNR Dean’s Student Advisory Council
Our Role:
The Board is made up of two or three representatives from each class, members are selected in the spring of their freshman year and generally serve until they graduate. ENSPire plans various events which center around environmental education, professional development, academic support, and making new friends in the major. Events are open to current and prospective ENSP students.
- Academic Peer Advising: Advisory Board members will meet with students one-on-one to discuss career plans, internship advice, academic schedules, four-year plans, using Testudo, joining student clubs and organizations, or to answer any other academic or social questions students might have. Reach out to them via their individual emails, find their emails below in “Meet Our Students”.
- Feedback Form: Find a google form here where you can leave suggestions about future events and give us general feedback.
- Open Bi-weekly Meetings: Our Board meetings are bi-weekly and open to students, student groups, and other organizations who would like to give us feedback or partner with us for events or initiatives. Please contact us at enspireatumd@gmail.com to find a time to attend an ENSPire meeting.
- Facebook and Instagram Group: Find our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/umdenspire and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/enspire_umd/?hl=en, where we post information for ENSP majors about upcoming ENSPire events, university events, used textbooks, clubs, and much more!
Meet Our Students
Shayna Silverman is a junior Environmental Science and Policy student with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and Management. She hopes to declare Disability Studies as a minor. After graduation, she would like to pursue a career in environmental education and management. Shayna is currently the ENSPire Events Coordinator and is the primary point of contact for anything regarding ENSPire events. Shayna additionally serves as Delta Gamma’s Director of Sisterhood. Her responsibilities include event planning and execution, budget managing, frequent chapter-wide communication, and close work with her programming supervisor. On the weekends, Shayna teaches 5th grade religious school in Bowie, MD. Over the summer, she worked at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh PA, as the Community Program Development Intern, gaining experience as an informal educator. Email: shaysil7@terpmail.umd.edu
Ava Piatt is a sophomore Environmental Science and Policy major, with a concentration in Politics and Policy. Originally from Baltimore County, MD, she hopes to move on to law school and become an environmental lawyer one day. With her dream job in the EPA, she hopes to fight for the natural and inherent rights of the environment. She works as the PR chair for ENSPire and loves to foster connections between ENSP students. She serves as an undergraduate teaching assistant for introductory courses in the ENSP major. Outside of ENSP, she is social chair for UMD Mock Trial with hopes to win their sixth National Championship in the spring. She is also a part of the pre-law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta with hopes to instill sustainability goals throughout the chapter. Her favorite place to study is on the fourth floor of McKeldin Library! Email: apiatt@terpmail.umd.edu
Emilia Ross is a sophomore Environmental Science and Policy student, with a concentration in environmental economics. She hopes to declare a minor in sustainability as well. Currently, she is involved in greek life in which she helps put on fundraising events and works to make her chapter more sustainable! Emilia’s favorite place to study is the sunroof of Tawes Hall. Email: eross12@terpmail.umd.edu
Olivia Rutigliano (she/her) is a junior Environmental Science and Policy (ENSP) major with a concentration in Culture and the Environment, and a prospective minor in general business. Besides serving on the ENSPire board as a general member and social media chair, she is VP of HR for the professional business fraternity Phi Chi Theta. She is also on the club soccer team, multiple intramural sports teams, and works for the residential department on campus. Olivia hopes to pursue environmental anthropology, specifically focusing on the intersection between environmental and human health! If anyone in this field wants to hire her, she is all ears.
Vivian Maneval is a freshman Environmental Science and Policy major with an intended concentration in Marine and Coastal Management. She is a part of University Honors, and plans to declare a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). When she is not with ENSPire as a general member, she enjoys tennis, yoga, and thrifting. She also enjoys studying sea level rise and coastal resilience, which led her to participate in a related study abroad program in Vietnam during Winter 2023-24. During her undergraduate years, she hopes to join the Federal Fellows program and engage in research adhering to her interests. Her favorite study spot on campus is the ground floor of Hornbake Library!
Email: vmaneval@terpmail.umd.edu
Allyson Young is a sophomore Environmental Science and Policy (ENSP) Major with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and Management. She also hopes to declare a minor soon. Her other involvements on campus include being a teaching assistant for the ENSP introductory classes 101 and 102. Her favorite place to study on campus is the second floor of McKeldin Library.
Email: ayoung31@umd.edu
Zenia Kaovasia is a junior Environmental Science and Policy student with a concentration in Politics & Policy. She hopes to declare a minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS). With her past experience working for NASA on environmental and human health planning, she plans to work within the environmental justice and management sector after graduation. She is a part of Greek life on campus and will be taking on the role as Delta Gamma’s Director of Public Relations. With this role she will be responsible for designing merchandise, involvement with philanthropic events, and communicating with members of the chapter. Along with this, she is in the Global Fellows Program and will be interning with the Department of Energy in the Office of Fossil Energy & Carbon Management to expand her passion for climate change initiatives. Zenia’s favorite place to study is the 5th floor of McKeldin Library.
Email: zeniak14@terpmail.umd.edu
Alicia Barnett (she/her) is a freshman Environmental Science and Policy major with a concentration in Policy and Politics. She is also earning a minor in Spanish. When not involving herself with the ENSPire Student Board as a general member, you can find her out giving tours with Maryland Images, playing with Club Tennis, or recording for her podcast “Everything in Between”. Alicia hopes to one day work with the EPA or a non-profit organization with the mission to tackle environmental injustice across the United States. Email: barnett5@umd.edu
Malachi Peavey (he/him) is an Environmental Science and Policy major interested in the Biodiversity and Conservation Biology concentration. He plans to declare public health as a second major in the fall. He is also an Ambassador for the College Park Scholars program and an Office Administrator for the College Success Scholars program. During his free time, he enjoys listening to music, snow sports, and caring for his pet fish. Malachi plans to go to graduate school and aspires to work at the EPA, NIH, or FDA in the future. Email: mpeavey@umd.edu