Nature & Nurture | Campaign News
Stanbacks Provide On-Going Support of Intern Program
for Conservation
Promoting conservation of the environment comes naturally
for Fred J. T'50 and Alice WC'53 Stanback of Salisbury,
N.C. They established the unique Stanback Internship program
in 1995 to provide a stipend to Nicholas School students,
enabling them to intern at non-profit conservation organizations
for the summer. Since then, their gifts totaling nearly $700,000
have supported 162 internship placements at conservation organizations.
This year, 33 students were placed at 22 organizations, thanks
to the generous support of the Stanbacks.
"It just made good sense to connect these bright young students
with organizations that could use their help. The students
are exposed to exceptional leaders in conservation and they
have a chance to see how non-profits really operate. The program
certainly seems to be working," said Fred Stanback.
A hands-on donor, Stanback personally selects the organizations
that submit proposals for internships. Increasingly, conservation
organizations are turning to Nicholas School students for
their technical expertise. For example, groups such as The
Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund seek students
who can use Geographic Information Systems to create maps
that identify high priority conservation areas.
Stanback Fellows are selected based on their areas of study
and academic backgrounds and are then paired with organizations
that match their interests and skills. Interdisciplinary in
nature, the program also is open to students in public policy,
law and business who wish to pursue environmental work. Stanback
would like to see the program continue to expand in these
and other areas that traditionally do not offer environmental
internships. "The next generation of business leaders needs
to be educated in conservation issues, and I hope the Stanback
Internship Program can play a role in making this happen,"
he said.
The students enjoy the program immensely and often write
the Stanbacks to share their experiences. "The Stanback fellowship
was my first exposure to the Southern Environmental Law Center,
now my current employer. As a Stanback Fellow, I worked on
several national and state forest issues, including a presentation
on the threats facing Southern Forests, to the President's
Council on Environmental Quality. I had the opportunity to
interact with several of my professors as peers, and peer
reviewers of studies they were undertaking. It was an unusual
opportunity to be critiquing their work; a role few students
are able to experience," said Will McDow F'00.
Fred Stanback has kept in close contact with Duke following
his graduation from Trinity in 1950, and he began his association
with the Nicholas School as a member of the Duke Marine Lab
Advisory Board. He then joined the Nicholas School Board of
Visitors in 1995. Always having an interest in environmental
causes, Stanback's passion for protecting the environment
has steadily grown over the years as he has become more involved
with numerous conservation organizations. Serving on The Nature
Conservancy of North Carolina Board for nearly 25 years, Stanback's
exceptional leadership and generosity in the world of conservation
have extended far beyond Duke. His two sons, Brad and Lawrence,
also have been instrumental in educating him about pressing
conservation issues, particularly in areas of overpopulation,
air pollution and forestry and coastal issues. Nicholas School
students look forward to tackling these issues in the future,
and many of them will be able to do so as Stanback Fellows.
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