The Dartmouth Fellowship

"On any given day you can likely find Bess Koffman, a second-year postdoctoral fellow in the Society of Fellows, kicking off her shoes at the entrance to the ice core lab in Fairchild Hall to avoid contamination of the precious samples being collected inside. With a spring in her step, she’s on her way to guide students in analyzing atmospheric dust deposited on polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers to advance understanding of climate and wind patterns and their impact on marine and terrestrial life. Meanwhile, across campus you might find second-year fellow Yvonne Kwan meeting with associate professor Deborah King, her mentor in the sociology department, to receive valuable feedback on her manuscript before assuming the role of mentor herself, supporting an undergraduate student in the Mellon Mays undergraduate fellowship program.

And it wouldn’t be all that uncommon to find Garrett Nelson, a historical geographer and first-year fellow in the society, finishing up a media interview about the surprising results of a recent project in which he asked the public to define geographically what constitutes the “Upper Valley” in their minds, or developing a syllabus for an innovative new course he’ll be teaching next spring titled Critical Mapping and the GeoHumanities.” Read more from President Phil Hanlon '77 in Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.