Noemi Walzebuck is the 2013 Recipient of the William Whitley Citizen-Scholar Prize

Noemi Walzebuck (BS, 2013) was named the 2013 Whitley Citizen Scholar for her steadfast and critical leadership in sustainability efforts on campus. Described as the “face of sustainability at Stanford,” Noemi co-founded and directed Green Events Consulting, which provides sustainable resources and ideas to student organizations during their event planning. Additionally, she has worked with university partners to bring sustainability to the forefront for faculty, staff and students. She helped bring Al Gore to campus for the inaugural Stephen H. Schneider Memorial Lecture on climate science. Noemi was one of this year's co-presidents of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, and has been contributing to sustainability work with SSS throughout her academic career. She was an officer in Students for Engagement and Activism in Microfinance, and also served as the student representative on two Faculty Committees.

Noemi has conducted research on ecosystem services at the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford, and worked on deforestation policy in the Brazilian Amazon with the state government in Manaus. She worked on corporate ecosystem services stewardship at the World Resources Institute and helped write a chapter of the 2013 World Resources Report. Noemi interned with the Environmental Defense Fund mapping marine ecosystem service prioritization locations in Belize. She worked for several years in the labs of Chris Field and Gretchen Daily.

Noemi was recently awarded the James W. Lyons Award for Service. Noemi’s other awards and honors include the Stanford Alumni Association Award for Excellence, the Donald J. Kennedy Environmental Fellowship, and the Sand Hill Fellowship. Noemi will be working on clean energy and transport grant-making at the Hewlett Foundation this summer. She will pursue a coterminal Master’s degree in Earth Systems in 2013-14, focusing on land use and sustainable agriculture policy.  After finishing her co-term, Noemi plans to work for a couple of years in the environmental policy sector before getting an MBA or a PhD.