Hannah Black is the 2015 Recipient of the William Whitley Citizen-Scholar Prize

Hannah Black (BS, 2015) was named the 2015 Whitley Citizen-Scholar for her tireless work in environmental and outdoor education. Hannah is passionate about the outdoors, ecology, and teaching. Since high school, she has avidly worked in environmental and outdoor education.  As her nominator describes her, "There's really no question: as far as environmental and outdoor educators at Stanford go, you'd be seriously hard-pressed to find one with more passion and drive than Hannah."

For four years, she has contributed her knowledge and service to Stanford's Outdoor Outreach Program, where she served as co-president during the 2012-2013 school year and recently as the coordinator for outdoor skills and leadership during the 2014-2015 school year. She trains leaders and facilitates outdoor trips for incoming freshmen through the SPOT (Stanford Pre-Orientation Trips).  Additionally, Hannah serves on the leadership team of SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity, and Sustainability), Stanford's ecology and environmental education club. Through SEEDS, Hannah has organized on campus ecology events and helped teach and tutor students from low-income backgrounds at local schools.  

Hannah has exemplified her passion for teaching and the outdoors as a Jasper Ridge Docent. As a docent, she leads tours for Stanford students, faculty, parents, and other Stanford affiliates.  This spring, she volunteered as part of the preserve's educational outreach program teaching ecology and environmental science to sixth graders from Eastside College Preparatory School.

After graduation Hannah will continue her work in environmental and outdoor education as the naturalist at Stanford Sierra Camp followed by her appointment as the natural science apprentice at the High Mountain Institute in Leadville, Colorado.  She plans to return to Stanford in the fall of 2016 to continue her coterminal masters degree in Environmental Communication.