All Inclusive
Environmental science major receives national fellowship
Curiosity about the natural world, coupled with a desire to make field study more accessible to people with disabilities, helped a Holyoke Community College student secure a prestigious national fellowship.
AJ Jones, an environmental science and natural resources major, was selected for a Newman Civic Fellowship by Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities working to advance the public purposes of higher education. The Newman Civic Fellowship is a yearlong program that recognizes students who stand out for their leadership potential and commitment to creating positive change in their communities.
“AJ has been a standout voice for inclusive science,” said HCC President George Timmons. “Their lived experience, academic excellence, and drive to uplift others make AJ a leader committed to meaningful, systemic change.”
Jones, 20, who grew up in the Springfield area and now lives in Hadley, joins student leaders from across the country as a member of the Newman Civic Fellows class of 2025-2026. The fellowship provides students with educational programs, workshops, and networking opportunities to help nurture their development as civic leaders. With the help of a campus mentor, each fellow takes on a community-based project.
For their project, Jones plans to continue work they started last year at HCC helping to adapt science labs and field work to people with disabilities and make accessible design improvements to campus gardens and the college greenhouse.
“Coming from a background of disability and nontraditional education, I feel a responsibility to my community to find ways to make environmental science education accessible,” said Jones, who uses a wheelchair.
Jones took an indirect route to higher education. They left high school at 15 to deal with some health issues that have gradually diminished their mobility.
“I was going to the hospital a lot and couldn’t keep up with school,” said Jones.
However, It was during their out of school that Jones’ interest in environmental science emerged.
“I started an organic garden, and from that I could see how the plants were affecting the soil, and how they were attracting different types of bird species and different insects,” said Jones. “It was cool to see how those things interacted. I spent a lot of time exploring nature. I would go out with my field guide and thought, ‘this is awesome. I need to do this.’”
Jones ultimately completed high school through Gateway to College, HCC’s alternative high school program, and has continued on at HCC as a full-time science student.
“Gateway was a great catapult,” they said.
At HCC, Jones is a member of the STEM Scholars program and treasurer of the Environmental Science Club. Last spring, they attended a conference of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions in Worcester and presented a research paper about their accessible garden project.
Jones’ Newman Fellowship project will expand on that research. They have already started scoping out the nature trails around the HCC campus, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to look at maps and track the slopes and inclines of the terrain.
Jones draws inspiration from the Accessible Oceans project at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, where scientists are developing solutions for making ocean research and discoveries more accessible to people with disabilities.
“It’s really cool stuff,” Jones said. “I really want to focus on how to make our labs and our field work better – more accessible – for students at HCC. If I want there to be change, then I have to try to help as much as I can.”
PHOTO: AJ Jones
