Meet the New Intern!

Another year, another intern! Melania Pugliese is a biology major and art minor, graduating with her B.S. from Monmouth University in May. Despite focusing on getting a degree in science, art found its way into her academic career and Melania has since found a love for ceramics which she desires to pursue further after graduation. She was initially drawn to this project through her deep love of science and a desire to get people invested in the environment. Climate change has been something she has been trying to bring awareness to and was intrigued by the use of art to make the issue more personal as opposed to the more impersonal usage of hard data and charts. Her desire to reach people and educate them has led Melania to look into becoming a high school teacher in order to directly impact communities through teaching biology. She also plans to be part of her school’s art department, hopefully building more art/scientific collaboration!

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hamper the usual activities of DEcoSelf, so Melania will primarily be working on the website and social media aspects of the project, but she is looking forward to being a part of it!

Justin DeMattico – 2020 D-Eco-Self Intern

Introducing the 2020 D-Eco-Self Intern: Justin DeMattico is a studio art major pursuing his B.A. at Monmouth University. He has a background in all types of mediums including charcoal/graphite, clay sculpting, digital media, intaglio, and acrylic/oil paint to name a few but strongly prefers working in oils. A strong influence in some of his work is his faith and love for nature and animals.  He is interested in the Discovering the Ecological Self project due to his interest in nature and how humans not only influence the world around them but interpret them through symbolism and alternative meanings. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, DeMattico worked on the new D-Eco Self social media, merchandise and blog posts. In the future, DeMattico would like to become a professor at a university and help others discover and hone their love for art as well. Working with students like those from Aslan Youth Ministry on this project is beneficial in learning how to teach topics like these as well as bridging topics like the environment and art together in a classroom setting.

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