{"id":977,"date":"2013-04-17T18:01:47","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T23:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwpowerswi.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2017-04-12T13:52:40","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T18:52:40","slug":"student-takes-passion-for-environment-to-state-capitol","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/student-takes-passion-for-environment-to-state-capitol\/","title":{"rendered":"Student takes passion for environment to state Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Menomonie, Wis. \u2014 Callie Bernier\u2019s interest in environmental science has taken her from a greenhouse to the statehouse in just four years.<\/p>\n

Bernier worked in a greenhouse while in high school and loved it. She decided to pursue a career that would allow her to be outdoors and combine her two passions: plants and art.<\/p>\n

Those passions, along with her academic skills, are taking her places. On Wednesday, April 17, she will be showcasing her interests in a slightly bigger house: the state Capitol in Madison. Bernier is one of eight University of Wisconsin-Stout students who will be presenting research at the annual UW System Posters in the Rotunda.<\/p>\n

For Bernier, a senior from Land O\u2019 Lakes majoring in applied science, the opportunity is one more step up the educational ladder. This fall she will take another major step when she begins graduate school at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has been accepted into the master\u2019s program for landscape architecture.<\/p>\n

Bernier\u2019s career path opened up when she decided to major in applied science at UW-Stout. An Honors College student, she also has studied abroad in Scotland and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make a difference and restore the environment through sustainable design, but I felt I couldn\u2019t accomplish this goal without first learning how society was contributing to environmental degradation,\u201d Bernier said.<\/p>\n

She accomplished that at UW-Stout by choosing an environmental science concentration and adding a minor in sustainable design and development.<\/p>\n

A major foundation at UW-Stout for Bernier has been the opportunity to conduct independent research with funding from the McNair Scholars Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe McNair Scholars Program has guided me through college, brought me numerous academic opportunities and caused me to reassess my personal goals. It has prepared me very well for graduate school,\u201d said Bernier, who hopes to pursue a doctorate degree.<\/p>\n

Her research project, \u201cWet Prairie Restoration Methods Affect Species Richness and Transplant Survival,\u201d not only will be presented at Posters in the Rotunda but was accepted for presentations this academic year at the:<\/p>\n