Courtesy Rodolfo Dirzo
Center for Latin American Studies Director Rodolfo Dirzo is the recipient of the 2016 Miriam Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize for his commitment to community engagement as integral to teaching and research, and for inspiring students from underserved communities to pursue conservation projects and careers.
The Haas Center for Public Service awards the Roland Prize to members of the Stanford faculty “who engage and involve students in integrating academic scholarship with significant and meaningful volunteer service to society.” It was created by alumna Miriam Aaron Roland, ’51, and includes a $5,000 cash award.
Dirzo, the Bing Professor in Environmental Science and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, has established a program in which Stanford graduate and undergraduate students mentor high school students. Through the Bing Overseas Studies Program, Dirzo also teaches a course on biocultural diversity in Oaxaca, Mexico, leading Stanford undergraduate and graduate students on research projects in which they immerse themselves in the language and culture of indigenous communities there.