Katherine Naegele

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“When you’re doing what you love, you actually want to put in the work.”

  • Program: 2009 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
  • Resides: Tempe, AZ
  • Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
  • Age: 22

Biography

PROFILE: Katherine Naegele, one of the first Young Scholars to receive a Graduate Scholarship from the Foundation, has decided on a change in projected career paths. While at one point she dreamed of singing the title role in the opera Carmen, her goal now is a little more down to earth, literally. An honors graduate in music from the University of Southern California, Katherine will be seeking to earn a Master of Forestry degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Although she no longer wishes to pursue a professional career in music, performing remains an intergral and indispensable part of her identity. What caused the change? Katherine says that over the course of her undergraduate career she came to the realization that music does not directly improve the world. That’s why she’s chosen to enter the field of forestry and hopefully someday work for the U.S. Forest Service. She is impressed with the stated goal of that agency which is to see that natural resources are used responsibly while ensuring the continued ecological health of the landscape. “To my mind, this practical attitude toward nature is precisely what is needed to solve the environmental problems the world currently faces.”

 INSPIRATION: While there have been many influential teachers and mentors in Katherine’s young life, she says a middle school teacher in Arizona, Kay Knocke, helped lay the groundwork for her. Also, during the summer of 2008, Katherine interned at White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and began to realize the environmental impact of human activities and climate change on the environment.
 
ASPIRATION: Although Katherine does not know yet which facet of forestry appeals to her the most, she is convinced she will need to spend the majority of her time outdoors, being physically active, rather than working indoors behind a desk. Right now she is leaning toward “silviculture” (the cultivation and care ot trees) as her main area of study. 
 
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: For the past year she has been a singer in the St. James’ Episcopal Church Schola Cantorum, a Los Angeles-based professional church choir that has an ongoing relationship with the choir of Westminster Abbey.  
 
ACCOLADES: In 2008 Katherine was awarded the Student Conservation Association/AmeriCorps Education Award and has been a regular Dean’s List student at USC. Earlier in her academic career she received a USC Presidential Scholarship.
 
INTERESTING FACT: “I’m frequently moved to tears by 12-tone music,” (a method of musical composition).

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