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USM Student Awarded Prestigious Fellowship for Environmental Leaders

July 2, 2007

Portland, Maine-A graduate student at the USM Muskie School of Public Service has been honored with the 21st annual Switzer Environmental Fellowship Award. Recipient Misha Mytar of Sullivan, Maine is a master's candidate studying land use and environmental planning.

Mytar is among 14 women and eight men chosen from universities in California and the New England region to receive the $15,000 fellowships. The fellowship from the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation is one of the nation's most prestigious awards for early-career environmental leaders.

Pursuing a master's degree in community planning and development at the Muskie School, Mytar is exploring how unplanned, rapid development affects the environment, the economy and quality of life. "By integrating environmental science and conservation tools with land use planning and policy, my goal is to help reconcile economic growth and natural resource conservation," said Mytar.

Born in Bangor, Mytar is a 2002 graduate of Yale University, who returned to her native state a few years ago to work in forest research, community organizing, land conservation and environmental planning. She is a 1998 graduate of George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, and currently lives in Sullivan.

The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation of Belfast, Maine was established in 1985 by Robert C. Switzer, co-creator of fluorescent paints and co-founder of Day Glo Color Corporation, and his wife, Patricia. As a lifelong environmentalist and an executive in a regulated company, Robert Switzer realized the need for scientific and technical expertise as well as leadership to proactively solve problems related to environmental quality. The first Switzer Environmental Fellowships were awarded in 1986. Over the years, more than 400 Fellows have been chosen from approximately 55 academic institutions in California and New England.

Editor’s Note: Misha Mytar can be reached at 460-4818 or at misha.mytar@maine.edu.  For additional help arranging an interview, contact the USM Office of Public Affairs at the numbers listed above.  More information on the 2007 Switzer Fellows, and the fellowship program, is available on the Switzer Foundation Web site http://www.switzernetwork.org/.

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