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The nine-week fellowship gives Muratori, along with two other of the Schenectady, N.Y., college's students, the opportunity to examine the tension that exists between economic development and environmental protection. They will participate in workshops and seminars and meet with representatives of organizations involved with Adirondack advocacy and policy. They also will meet with residents and business owners, and visit area schools and government buildings.
So far, Muratori and her colleagues have visited the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. "It was an amazing experience," Muratori said in a prepared statement.
The program is based out of Union College's new Kelly Adirondack Center. The students are required to write a series of op-eds related to a specific topic that will be submitted to outside news organizations. At the end of the program, they must submit a research paper and give a public presentation on the topic.
The students, who all will be seniors this fall, were selected through an application process, as well as their ability to conduct independent research. Each receives a stipend.
Muratori has an extensive familiarity with the Adirondacks. The political science major (and anthropology minor) spends every summer with her family on Lake George. With an interest in journalism, she saw the fellowship as an opportunity to strengthen her research skills and writing. She will focus on the economic development in Tupper Lake, a former logging town in Franklin County.
"This fellowship has been a good way to introduce us to the center," Muratori said. "It's still fairly new, but I think the more it gets used, it will really catch on with people on campus. There is a lot of history in this building."
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