Jacob Keszey ’09 turns to Africa for academic inspiration.  Having grown up on a small farm in Vermont, the Mount Mansfield Union High School graduate says appreciation for the environment is something that’s always been a part of him, but it is at St. Lawrence that his passion for environmental studies has taken off.  And through the Kenya Semester, he put theory into practice.  “The Kenya Program serves any major, but I think it offers specific benefits to someone focused on environmental conservation,” he says.  “It’s a world of contrasts there.  You can go from a mountain with a 17,000-foot ecosystem down to a coastal ecosystem.”

Jacob stayed in Kenya an extra two weeks, thanks to a travel research grant from St. Lawrence’s Center for International and Intercultural Studies, to do independent research on the environmental sustainability of the agricultural practices of the tea industry. 

On campus, Jacob, who now calls Durham, ME, home, is on the Ultimate Frisbee team, works as a campus tour guide for the admissions department, plays club soccer and intramural sports, spends 10 hours a week as a reading and math tutor in the local elementary schools and is a member of the Environmental Action Organization.