People, Politics, and Places Fellowship

Zach Godsey

Class year: 2029
Major: Earth Systems
Summer Placement: Tidelines Institute

Project: Understanding relation to environment/sustainability in rural versus urban upbringings through short interviews of Tidelines students + fellows.

Lizbeth Ortiz

Class year: 2029
Major: Economics
Summer Placement: Thoreau College Driftless School

Project: Conducting a comparative study on how geographic disparities in business education and digital infrastructure impact the economic agency, financial literacy, and social mobility of rural versus urban youth. Leveraging a mixed-methods approach of qualitative interviews and survey analysis in Viroqua, Wisconsin, the project maps how regional education policies and local cooperative business networks can be optimized to build prestige career pipelines outside of traditional urban tech hubs. 

Lily Bourne

Class year: 2029
Major: Product Design + Earth Systems
Summer Placement: University of Montana and Blackfoot Challenge

Project:  At University of Montana, working with the Mansfield Center to run an intensive civics education for rural high schoolers. With Blackfoot Challenge, understanding the processes of compromise between stakeholders by observing community meetings, especially regarding sustainable agricultural policies.

Thresa Skeslien Jenkins

Class year: 2027
Major: Master of Business Administration, Master of Education
Summer Placement: University of Montana and The Baucus Institute

Project topic:  At University of Montana, working with the Mansfield Center to run an intensive civics education for rural high schoolers. With the Baucus Institute I’ll be attending rural community meetings to understand motivators and barriers for local involvement.

Caroline Zhang

Class year: 2029
Major: Economics + Public Policy

Project: Conducting a study on how community context influences youth perceptions of generative AI, focusing on educational, career, and economic expectations. The project combines qualitative interviews and survey analysis to examine differences across rural, suburban, urban, and technology-centered regions.

Isaac Nehring

Class year: 2026
Major: BAH, American Studies, MA, Environmental Communication
Summer Placement: University of Montana and the Red Ants Pants Foundation

Project:  At the University of Montana, working with the Mansfield Center to run an intensive civics education program for rural high schoolers. With the Red Ants Pants Foundation, assisting in festival operations for the annual Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs and studying how several rural music festivals have spurred economic and cultural transformation in small-town Montana.