Tag Archive for: Institute for Applied Sustainability

SOU Ashland's CRL Student Fellows program,

CRL Student Fellows program celebrates first year

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Southern Oregon University celebrated the success of its Community Resilience and Leadership Student Fellows (CRL) program in an event last week that brought together students, community partners, businesses, nonprofit organizations and elected officials to recognize what has been achieved in the program’s inaugural year and look ahead to what comes next. The evening’s keynote speaker, Jonna Papaefthimiou from Gov. Tina Kotek’s office, set the wider context for the importance of resilience across Oregon and the role that partnerships, leadership and community action can play in preparing for future challenges.

Dinner for the event was provided by Rogue Food Unites, an Ashland nonprofit that formed in 2020 in response to the Almeda and Obenchain wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The celebration highlighted the success of the Institute for Applied Sustainability’s CRL Student Fellows program, which provides students with learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Students in the initial cohort worked on real-world challenges alongside community partners, building leadership skills, professional connections and practical experience. Partnerships extended well beyond campus, including collaboration with the city of Coos Bay and engagement in Portland, Coos Bay, Butte Falls, Salem and across Oregon.

The experience provided the CRL student fellows an opportunity to take what they had learned and apply it in very different communities and settings.

“The last week of field school took us to the Oregon Coast, where we had the opportunity to apply what we had learned in a completely new setting with different constraints, risks and community priorities,” student fellow Liora Solomon said.

The experience also broadened students’ understanding of what community resilience can mean.

“I began to understand more about the wide variety of actions that fit into the mold of ‘community resilience,’” said CRL student fellow Finch Drake. “It isn’t just preparing for disaster, although that is an incredibly important aspect of it. Community resilience can also be the act of bringing people together and healing their souls.”

The success of the inaugural cohort demonstrated what is possible when universities and communities work together.

SOU Ashland's CRL Student Fellows program“What has been so exciting about this program is seeing students realize that they don’t have to wait until after graduation to make a difference,” said SOU Economics professor Bret Anderson, who is also the faculty and academic director of Institute for Applied Sustainability. “They can bring their ideas, energy and skills to real community challenges right now. That’s what applied learning should look like, and this program is just the beginning.”

The CRL program builds on the momentum created through SOU’s Institute for Applied Sustainability (IAS), established with the support of Lithia Motors & Driveway. That investment provided the foundation for bringing students, faculty, staff and community partners together around applied sustainability and resilience. U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden also supported the program by helping to secure federal funding that has enabled the Community Resilience and Leadership Student Fellows program to grow from an idea into an opportunity for students and communities across Oregon.

The one-year CRL fellowship is a cornerstone of the institute’s Living Laboratory concept, and offers a total of 12 credit hours plus monetary stipends to students who are selected for the program. It consists of a spring Local Innovation Lab course that meets two hours per week and offers four academic credit hours; a summer Field School that offers eight credit hours and meets for six weeks beginning in early August; and fall options that include internships, peer mentoring and capstone research projects.

Last week’s event was a celebration, but the broader message was that this work is just getting started. CRL is an invitation to students, businesses, community nonprofits, local governments and elected officials to work alongside SOU on the challenges facing the region’s communities. By connecting education with real projects, real partners and real needs, the program is creating opportunities for students to learn through doing – and developing southern Oregon’s future workforce. The next chapter is about expanding those partnerships, creating more opportunities for students and continuing to turn ideas about resilience into action.

Amy Bowers Cordalis at SOU Ashland

Student voices, river stories: Amy Bowers Cordalis at SOU

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Southern Oregon University recently hosted an inspiring evening – defined by hope, intergenerational storytelling and a powerful connection to place – as Yurok Tribe member, attorney and fisherwoman Amy Bowers Cordalis visited as part of the Institute for Applied Sustainability’s mentorship event series.

The Institute for Applied Sustainability hosted and sponsored the event, convening students, faculty and community partners around the shared significance of the Klamath River. Partners including Trout Unlimited, Jackson County Library Services and Bloomsbury Books helped create a community-centered atmosphere.

Amy Bowers Cordalis at SOU AshlandLast week’s event kicked off with a break-out session to give students an opportunity to speak directly with Cordalis. About 450 students, staff, faculty and community members then gathered in the Rogue River Room for a student-led program that brought forward diverse and personal connections to the river. Students from the Community Resilience and Leadership cohort; Environmental Science, Policy and Sustainability program; and the Native American Student Union shared stories that reflected their lived experiences and academic interests.

Cordalis, the evening’s keynote speaker, grounded the event with a broader story of resilience and restoration. Her work has been central to the historic Klamath Dam Removal, the largest dam removal project in U.S. history and the most significant salmon restoration effort in the world. She spoke as an attorney and advocate, and as a fisherwoman and member of a family deeply tied to the river. In a moving moment, members of her family joined her on stage, including her niece, Keeya Wiki, an Ashland High School senior.

“It was incredible to see the steadfast hope that Amy brings to her work,” SOU senior Maisie Bandel Ramirez said. “Hearing from the younger generations in her family, and their stories about going from dreaming of an undammed Klamath to getting to experience a free river, really encapsulated just how monumental their work has been.”

Amy Bowers Cordalis at SOU AshlandFirst-year student Jes Muhlenkamp Joranco echoed that sentiment.

“It was truly inspiring to hear not only about Amy’s story but also her family stories,” Joranco said.

Cordalis returned to the central theme of hope grounded in action throughout the evening.

“When we equally value the rights of Indigenous peoples, nature and business, world renewal is possible,” she said. “Balance returns, life returns and so does hope.”

Three days after the removal of Iron Gate – the last dam standing on the Klamath – the lead salmon, or “ney-puy,” passed the former dam site and began a journey to spawning grounds not visited in 100 years.

“The salmon remembered,” Cordalis said.

That return has been both symbolic and measurable. Within the first year, 7,000 Chinook salmon swam past the former Iron Gate Dam site. In 2025, more than 13,000 salmon swam past the site and traveled into 400-plus miles of spawning habitat.

Student fellows sought for leadership program at SOU Ashland

SOU seeking student fellows for new Community Resilience and Leadership program

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University’s Institute for Applied Sustainability is recruiting students for its new Community Resilience and Leadership Student Fellows program – an opportunity for a cohort of 15 of students to help create meaningful solutions to urgent challenges facing local communities. The one-year fellowship – a cornerstone of the institute’s Living Laboratory concept – offers a total of 12 credit hours plus monetary stipends to students who are selected for the fellowships.

The Community Resilience and Leadership (CRL) fellows program is an opportunity for students to participate in hands-on projects through field-based learning and close partnerships with a variety of local organizations. It is built on the idea of the Living Laboratory – a classroom formed by partnerships between SOU, the southern Oregon region and community organizations.

“CRL is not a class you sit through,” the program’s website says. “It’s an experience you step into.”

The program consists of a spring Local Innovation Lab course that meets two hours per week and offers four academic credit hours; a summer Field School that offers eight credit hours and meets for six weeks beginning in early August; and fall options that include internships, peer mentoring and capstone research projects. The student fellows will receive $1,000 stipends for participating in the spring Local Innovation Lab and $3,000 stipends for the summer Field School.

“The experience of meeting with community partners, exploring ambiguities and personal values with my peers, and the helpful and insightful guidance of the instructors is invaluable,” said one student who has completed the Local Innovation Lab course. “I believe the lab attracts students who are curious, full of life, and willing to learn how to ride the waves of ambiguity and uncertainty.”

Another student said the lab is “not just learning about different tools and ways to improve yourself, but also of ways to impact and affect other individuals in the community, beginning with yourself.”

Students from any major who are interested in the CRL fellows program can attend an information session from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26, in Room 319 of the Stevenson Union. Lunch will be provided, and questions about the program are welcome. Applications to be part of the 2026 cohort – which begins this spring term – can be submitted online, with a priority deadline of Feb. 2.

The Institute for Applied Sustainability envisions SOU as what it calls a “Living Laboratory,” in which students can turn ideas into action, and theory into real-world solutions. Students use real challenges, data and partners to test ideas, solve problems and create impacts in their community – tackling issues such as energy, water, food systems, forests and community well-being.

The CRL Student Fellows Program, an integral part of the Living Laboratory model, has grown out of the Local Innovation Lab project – which started as a response to local problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the September 2020 Almeda Fire. SOU economics professor Bret Anderson and several members of the local community created the lab in partnership with the university.

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