Recent Capstones

2024

• Hope Baumeyer and Ally Hoffmann - The W&L University Store and Sustainability
• Virginia Bernot and Sara Kate Durkee - The Future of Ginseng through the Lens of Business Analysis, Conservation, and Ecology
• Josh Fingerhut - Microstegium vimineum on the W&L Back Campus Disc Golf Course: A Community-Oriented Management Plan
• Sarah Footer - Perspectives on Climate Change in French Polynesia and What They Can Teach Us About Effective and Considerate Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
• Tim Keefe and Jackson Hotchkiss - Farm Distribution From Producers to Consumers: Investigating Supply Chains, Barriers, and Opportunities
• Ian Kinney - Urban Pedestrianization: A Review of the Origins and Promise of Moving Beyond Car-Centric Cities
• Izzy Koziol - Business Action as the Pathway to a Sustainable Future: W&L and the Green Energy Transition
• Jordan Lambe - Virginia Wildlife Crossings’ Effectiveness in Mitigating Habitat Fragmentation Caused by Roads
• Elise Molinaro - The Buena Vista Community Garden: A Site for Investment in Community, Education, and a Local Food System
• Giang Nguyen - Impact of Sustainability News on Stock Prices - A Case Study in Fashion Companies
• Clara Ortwein - Native Plants, Public Education, and W&L: Using Campus Examples to Encourage a Shift in Landscaping Trends
• Abby Portwood - Lake Robertson, Virginia: Trail Assessment and Recommendations for Management
• Cameron Reed and Nathan Unger - Isolating the “E” in ESG: An Investigation into the ESG Space
• Sophia Rollo - Energy Consumption Analysis and Recommendations for W&L’s Natatorium
• Adam Roy - Sustainable Affordable Housing: How Copenhagen’s Initiatives Can Inform Boston’s Policies
• Jules Seay - Empowering Local Sustainability through COREWorks Carbon Markets and Boxerwood’s Forestry Education
• Allyssa Utecht - Data-Driven Sustainability: Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Climate Change Mitigation
• Chase Verdery - Teeing Off Towards Sustainability: Assessing and Promoting Golf Courses’ Environmental Practices
• Sarah Zungailia - Effective Intervention Methods to Increase Environmental Awareness in Skincare Products

2023

• Blake Cote, Jake McCabe, and Caroline Wise - Biking at Washington and Lee: An Assessment and Recommendations
• Julienne de Vastey - Malaria and Climate Change
• Townsend Dotterer - Food, Culture, and Community in Lexington
• James Eaton - Land Usage in Shenandoah County - How Land has Changed Hands Over Time
• Lauren M. “El” Ellenz - Prairie Roots: Historical and Ecological Narratives in Mitchell County, Kansas
• Alli Engfer - Consumer Awareness of Fast Fashion
• Hannah Grace Galbreath - The Nature of Sustainability in Post-Secondary Education: A Case Study at Washington and Lee University
• Sara Gaston - The Effects of the Opioid Epidemic on Freshwater Ecosystems in Appalachia
• Tanner Harron, Bailey Keel - Assessing Stream Crossings as Barriers to Aquatic Organism Mobility in the Jennings Creek Watershed
• Matt Majoy - Desertification in Kenya and Risks of Future Conflict Domestically, Regionally and Abroad
• Trent Mulligan - How the Anthropocene Ended. A climate fiction novel prospectus
• Jensen Rocha - Communicating the Implications of Plastics through Fiction
• Max Thomas - Hungry, Thirsty, and Poor: The Impacts of Water Insecurity on Human Capital Returns to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Madison Williams - Environmental Gentrification and Green Spaces: Achievements of Equity or Perpetrators of Environmental Injustice?
• Nelle Alexander - Play Around and Find Out: Small Scale Tidal Energy System Design
• Tyler Bernard - A Gap Review of an Invasive Species: Brachiaria decumbens in the Pantanal
• Cameron Blizard - How to Market Agrivoltaics and Large-Scale Solar in Rockbridge County, VA
• Christina Cavallo - Making Movement Meaningful: A Case for Energy-Creating Exercise Equipment
• Belen Delgado Mio - Compost in Carbon Markets and Education
• Sydney Goldstein - Towards Sustainable Community-Based Fisheries Management in the Amazon River Basin: Exploring Policy Design and Linkages to Sustainable Development Goals
• Claire Grant - The Real Price of Fashion
• Emmie McElroy - Dislodged: Beavers from Pushed-Out to Preserved through a lens of Human Progress. An Environmentally Inspired Art Installation
• Chloe Olsen - Climate Change and Environmental Justice: A Case Study in Sápmi
• Mark Ozboyd - Improving Crop Nutrient Profiles with Regenerative Agriculture: A Review
• Allie Stankowich - Large Hydropower Projects’ Role in Sustainable Food Security: A Case Study Report on the Bujagali Dam of Uganda
• Carolyn Todd - Sustainable Design, Marketing, and Brand Transparency: Investigating the Performance Material Running Apparel Footware Supply Value Chain
• Kyle Lutz and Sarah Wittpenn - Navigating the ESG space: A Deep Dive on the Impact of ESG Scores in Investment Decisions

2022

• Ruth Abraham - Preferences for Intervention Methods of Shared Ecological Resources in Barcelos, Amazonas, Brazil
• Annie Bernot - Healthcare Sustainability: Repurposing Surgical Sterilization Wraps as a Waste Reduction Strategy
• Adelaide Burton - Transitioning the Washington & Lee Fleet to Electric Vehicles: A Viability Case Study
• Chris Curtis - Solutions for protecting vulnerable transportation infrastructure and social equity in Miami-Dade
• Joey Dunn and Justin Littlejohn - Social enterprise business plan for solutions to mitigate urban heat islands
• Ella Hall - Environmental and Financial Potential of a Menstrual Cup: A Service Project
• Maya Hernandez - Voices of the Valley: Oral Histories of Pipeline Resistance
• Sarah Hollen - The Role of Deliberative Democracy in Environmental Decision-Making: A Case Study of the Thacker Pass Lithium Mining Project
• Nick Greenberg - Using Social Media to Better Communicate Scientific Research in the Outdoor Community
• Mark Lamendola - Understanding Patterns and Preferences of Campus Green Space Use at Washington and Lee University
• A.J. Mabaka - Offshore Wind Energy & Commercial Fisheries Technical Report: Environmental Impact Analysis of the South Fork Wind Farm & Export Cable on the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
• Bri Mondesir - Searching for Stability: The Intersections of Environment, Income, and Health
• Judy Park - The Sinking Village of America: Shismaref, AK
• Whit Rudder - Maury River Restoration through Community Engagement