Student from Eureka wins national award

A Montana State University senior majoring in environmental health recently received a prestigious scholarship for her academic accomplishments, commitment to environmental health and research into water resources in Montana.

Michelle Leonard of Eureka was one of two nationwide winners of the National Environmental Health Association and the American Academy of Sanitarians Scholarship. She is the first MSU student to win this award.

“I was honestly a little shocked when I heard the news,” Leonard said. “But now I feel very accomplished in getting this scholarship and feel pretty solid in knowing that I want to continue my education specifically in environmental health.”

The NEHA/AAS scholarship helps supports students who are pursuing careers in environmental health and want to positively contribute to the future of environmental health.

Growing up in rural Montana, Leonard said she saw her fair share of environmental problems and how little information was available to communities. Between water issues in the Kootenai Reservoir or asbestos in nearby Libby, she wanted to know more about how these problems can affect the land and the human population.

“To educate people is one of my main goals in life; to be able to learn so much and then relay it in an easy-to-understand way,” she said. “Sometimes science can be so overwhelming and people don’t grasp it, so I want to break it down so they can see how cool and relatable science is.”

Leonard’s research in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology in the College of Agriculture focuses on the contaminant selenium, which can enter water bodies through various human causes such as mining and agricultural activities, fossil fuels combustion and more.

The project is not just something that she is curious about for school; it is also affecting her hometown of Eureka, where Leonard said selenium in the local reservoir likely is the result of runoff from a nearby mine in Canada.

Leonard is observing data on bioaccumulation, or how selenium is absorbed by one organism and can be passed to another organism that ingests the first one.

In conjunction with her research, Leonard works with the Montana Well Educated Program to look for containments in private wells across the state.

“We are trying to relay to people what water is suitable for healthy consumption and also try to geographically show in Montana which contaminants people should be specifically looking for,” Leonard said.

The goal of the Well Educated Program is to teach private well owners about water quality as it relates to health and quality of life.

The program is a collaborative effort between MSU Extension Water Quality and partners in participating counties that provide well owners with materials to sample their well water quality. Well Educated will interpret the data received and give feedback to participants, such as ways to test well water in the future, how to clean their system and ways to make water safe for future consumption.

Leonard works with MSU Extension water quality specialist Adam Sigler. Currently she is logging data from program participants – such as their location, well sizes, contaminant issues and more – which will help paint a larger picture of the issues private well owners experience across the state and who the program is currently serving.

This spring she will also create a survey to help the program better meet the needs participants.

Mari Eggers, head of the environmental health program and Leonard’s advisor, said Leonard has had great experience in leadership, from her years as a resident assistant to working closely with her peers and helping all students feel welcome.

“I’ve seen her in classes make a point to draw out quieter students to make them feel comfortable in class,” Eggers said. “Michelle has such a gift for creating community, which will serve her well in her future career working with communities. She has been passionate about water resources and environmental health since freshman year, so I’m delighted she has this opportunity to work with Dr. Sigler and the Well Educated Program."

Sigler said Leonard is on track to excel in service to environmental health.

“She has the passion and clear demonstration of capacity through her schoolwork, and she is learning through this internship some important organizational and management mentoring skills that I think is a really good match between her interests and what this internship is able to give her for experience,” he said.

After graduation Leonard hopes to go to graduate school and continue work in water resources. She also hopes to get in-field experience and work with communities closely on water-related topics.