Meet Zlanpea Wehyee – MSH Intern from Franklin Pierce University

MSHub and FPU’s Institute for Climate Action partnered for the Winter/Spring 2020 term to bring two FPU students to work with Hub staff and committee members.

Thank you FPU Institute for Climate Action!

Meet Zlanpea, one such student.

My name is Zlanpea Wehyee and I graduated from Franklin Pierce University (FPU) with a major in Environmental Science along with a minor in Criminal Justice this past May. Before moving to the United States in 2002, I lived in the Ivory Coast. My family and I received refugee status and eventually citizenship in the US. I grew up in the urban housing projects in Providence, Rhode Island. My drive for academic achievement and love for plants and gardening cannot be compared. I am interested in biodiversity, conservation and the insights to be gained about the impact of climate change on plants.

During my spring semester at FPU, I had the honor of being selected to work with Patricia Martin as a Monadnock Energy Hub intern (MSH). I choose to apply to gain additional knowledge from this internship because of my interest in climate change and promoting efforts to address the climate crisis. During my time working for MSH, I applied a hands-on approach and investigated ways to promote solutions to help decrease environmental degradation for example, the Town Warrent Article. The projects that I was assigned to helped increase my problem-solving skills and the practical application of the scientific method in the field.

While working for MSH, I had the privilege of working with amazing individuals and coming up with creative ways to reach out to the Rindge community about carbon pricing—basically enforcing the importance of enacting a fee on carbon polluters. Some of my tasks include social media event planning, research, creating website material and public speaking.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of Franklin Pierce University’s graduate and internship programs. This ongoing pandemic has affected my last academic years at FPU due to the cancelation of my final semester. Not only has it affected my in-class learning experience, many of the summer internship I’ve applied for canceled their summer position due to the uncertainty of the virus.

Although this had to take place and the future is uncertain, I remain optimistic and focused on achieving my goals. My career objectives are to attain a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (ES) and to use that knowledge to pursue a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree (J.D.) with a focus on environmental law. This educational background will allow me to progress to leadership positions in which I can influence environmental law advocacy on a local and global level.

To date, I have taken course work which included sustainability, water resources, ecology, law, and communication. The combination of classes I have taken includes biology, the chemistry of pollutants, and data analysis/interpretation. A foundation in science is key to my understanding to interpret scientific studies, glean how data impacts public policy, and to understand the efficacy of environmental interventions to drive land/water protection.

Zlanpea Wehyee is a graduating senior at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge NH