Dyanna Becker's interest in the environment began when she was a middle-school student in the small town of Lafayette, Colo. One of her teachers was an organizing member of River Watch, a network of science teachers dedicated to testing and analyzing water quality in nearby rivers and streams. The teachers provided their data to the Colorado Division of Wildlife and used the experience to teach river ecology.
Becker remembers patrolling the creek that ran by their school, collecting water samples, viewing them under microscopes. The creek is not far from Boulder, and "you could actually see the pollution levels increasing as it left the city." Walking along the banks of the runoff creek and being able to trace the effects of civilization on its immediate environment left an impact on the student.
Years later, as a civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy student at Carnegie Mellon, she is still influenced by River Watch. She co-chairs the annual campus environmental awareness event Focus the Nation; is vice president of the student organization Sustainable Earth; and is a founding member of Engineering without Borders at Carnegie Mellon.
Recently, Becker was one of 80 students nationwide to be awarded the Morris K. Udall Scholarship, given to students who have demonstrated commitment to pursuing environmental careers. Not surprisingly, she spent her summer working with Boulder's transportation agency, helping municipal planners find ways to minimize the industrial pollution of urban life seeping into the surrounding environment—like the creek that runs by her old junior high.
—Bradley A. Porter (HS'08)
