UW’s Ovard Achieves and Gets Involved Through Curiosity and Excitement

University of Wyoming senior Riley Ovard -- who will graduate with a B.S. in environmental systems science and a concurrent major in environment and natural resources, with a minor in sustainability and a certificate in geographic information science -- has achieved a great amount in his time in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

 

What’s led to his many accomplishments? Curiosity and excitement.

 

“I don’t really think I’ve ever had a moment during college where I’ve been like, ‘Oh, I feel like I should do things or be a part of this to fill out my resume,’” says Ovard, of Evanston.

 

Among other achievements, he’s earned several scholarships, including a Trustees’ Scholar Award; been an ambassador for the Haub School; obtained a research assistantship as an undergraduate; and served as co-leader of the Sustainability Coalition as well as leadership of the Sustainability Club.

 

Ovard, who will graduate Saturday, May 16, in UW’s Arena-Auditorium, is one of this year’s two Outstanding Graduating Senior Awards recipients. The award, formerly the Tobin Memorial and Rosemarie Martha Spitaleri Award, recognizes graduating seniors with exceptional academic achievement, leadership, service, involvement, character and citizenship. The award is the highest honor bestowed on UW undergraduate students.

 

In addition to these honors and involvements, Ovard found time to sing with the Happy Jacks, Singing Statesmen, Collegiate Chorale and 7220 Blues. He also was a member of the Cowboy Climbing Club and Cowboy Cycling Club.

 

Curiosity and Excitement

 

Many of Ovard’s achievements originated from curiosity and excitement, he says. His involvements have snowballed out of interest, a decision to learn and to be curious rather than spend all year in his dorm room.

 

“These projects are exciting, and that’s kind of been the way that a lot of it has happened,” Ovard says. “I came into the Sustainability Coalition because I was interested in sustainability. I had the minor, and I saw that the position was open, and so I just applied. I didn’t even know it was paid until I got it. I just wanted to be a part of what was happening on campus with sustainability, and that turned into a two-year thing.”

 

This, in part, led to Ovard becoming a Greenhouse Gas and Reactive Nitrogen Emissions Inventory intern. According to a supporting letter in his Outstanding Graduating Senior Award nomination packet, he’s collaborated with over 20 departments to locate, clean and organize emissions data and then produce clear, usable reports.

 

His research project came from an after-class conversation with his mentor, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Communities Grete Gansauer. After brainstorming some research ideas, Ovard was offered funding as an undergraduate student. Throughout the course of the research, he’s received about $14,000 for his research project from a combination of funds.

 

“What I most appreciate about Riley is his practical, grounded approach to challenges. He understands that good intentions are not enough and that lasting change depends on reliable data and functional systems and partnership,” says Melanie Matthews, project coordinator in the Haub School. “Beyond his academic and professional accomplishments, Riley is genuinely kind, steady and motivated by a desire to contribute meaningfully. He is the kind of person who quietly does the work while always being inclusive and supportive to others.”

 

The biggest impacts he’s had on campus include a curriculum evaluation for the Haub School’s sustainability minor, which he thinks will have lasting impact, and his work with the Sustainability Coalition, he says.

 

The curriculum evaluation project for the sustainability minor, which was carried out by Ovard and his project team, was part of his sustainability capstone. During this project, Ovard and his team played a large role in the data collection and student perspective processes. They then presented the project to the undergraduate curriculum committee. Ovard thinks this work may have an impact on students in the minor for years to come.

 

“I think that that is something that will have lasting effects. Talking with all of them, they want to know what we think about it, not what they think it should be,” Ovard says.

 

As for the Sustainability Coalition, so much was put into it by Ovard and its other members, he says, adding, to a large degree, it was “my life for those two years.” While Ovard says they may not have hit the mark they wanted with the Sustainability Coalition, when he looks back objectively, it did accomplish a lot.

 

“I think it’s an uphill battle,” he says.

 

During his two years with the Sustainability Coalition, it focused on education and creating events people would want to attend and leave having learned something.

 

The coalition also established a yearlong clothing drive, with five donation locations on campus. The coalition then partnered with the Pokes Center for Community Resources, donating its clothing stock to the Pokes Center, which Ovard hopes will be long-lasting on campus.

 

While Ovard has made an impact on campus, his time at UW also has positively impacted him.

 

UW’s Impact on Ovard

 

On a personal level, study abroad has had major impact on Ovard -- specifically, a trip to Brisbane, Australia, where he learned people share “something fundamental in our experience of the world,” he says.

 

During the trip, Ovard and his fellow students examined place identity and spent some time on an island where the main draw was an eco-resort and a research center. Upon returning to the United States, Ovard got a tattoo of a manta ray. The creatures, which are normally concentrated on the island, were mostly elusive until the final day of his trip.

 

“It was so cool, and they’re just beautiful, beautiful creatures,” Ovard says. “I always knew I wanted to do kind of an animal sleeve and so, I was like, ‘great way to start.’”

 

Additionally, Ovard singles out his political ecology class for the impact it’s had on him. At the time, it was the most challenging class he had taken. The course was full of dense theory and helped him grow as an academic. Ovard’s research with Gansauer -- which allowed him to attend a conference in San Francisco and is ongoing -- also comes to mind as personally impactful. It’s the most academic thing he’s done, he adds.

 

Next steps

 

Following graduation, Ovard and his girlfriend will relocate to Pinedale, where he’s obtained a seasonal job as a forestry technician.

 

He’s happy to take on the job and, while he may eventually pursue graduate school, he’s ready to take a break from school.

 

If he has to name a path he’s working toward, wildfire management is likely what he’d come up with. But Ovard has values he wants to maintain in his life and career more than a specific career path, he says.

 

As part of his professional development classes, Ovard was once tasked with writing down his dream job. It’s something for which he still doesn’t have an answer, but he can name the qualities he’s seeking.

 

“If I have to come up with qualities of that job … I want there to be a strong sense of community,” Ovard says. “I want to feel that I am a part of a broader community in the work that I’m doing and that the work I’m doing is positively affecting that community.”

 

Ovard’s involvements and work at UW didn’t necessarily happen with this goal in mind but, in reflection, he realizes he was drawn to spaces that aligned with these values.

 

“I’m mostly interested, I think, in leading a fulfilling life,” Ovard says. “Whatever work either furthers that goal or doesn’t get in the way of it is where I want to end up, and I think that if I’m able to do something that is fulfilling, then I will be a positive influence in my community at whatever scale that is.”