Sophy Fields grew up in Bremen, a coal mining town in Western Kentucky鈥檚 Muhlenberg
County, and her father works for Warrior Coal.
But all the mining in Bremen is done underground, so it wasn鈥檛 until she went on a
field trip to Eastern Kentucky with other students from the Environmental Geology
and Environmental Law and Policy classes in the spring of 2023 that she saw the effects
of mountain-top-removal coal mining.
鈥淐oal mining [in Appalachia] causes a large amount of ecological and health damage,鈥�
she wrote in a blog about the experience. 鈥淭he people in these regions face the damaging
health effects of the coal industry and see environmental degradation in their own
backyards.鈥�
"Through the variety of classes, coursework and hands-on experiences at Bellarmine, I am well prepared to take the next steps toward my career."
鈥淚n my Geology class with Dr. Kate Bulinski, we were able to visit many local companies
and organizations in the environmental field, such as a wastewater treatment plant,
a limestone quarry, and a landfill,鈥� she said.
She also participated in two study abroad trips鈥攖o San Salvador and Belize鈥攖hrough
biology classes.
鈥淚 feel like through the variety of classes, coursework and hands-on experiences at
Bellarmine, I am well prepared to take the next steps toward my career.鈥�
She plans to work in environmental education and interpretation and is currently applying
for internships through the Student Conservation Association. Her dream is to be an
interpretive park ranger out West, perhaps at Redwood National Park in California.
As a first-generation college student, she said she benefited from Bellarmine鈥檚 Pioneer
Scholars program. She is graduating a year early thanks to the 47 credit hours she
earned through dual-credit classes in high school and AP exam scores.
And while Bellarmine was her top college choice, she said she wouldn鈥檛 have been able
to attend without the scholarships she received, including the Horrigan Scholarship
and Presidential Scholarship from Bellarmine and an award from the Alliance Coal Scholars
Program for the children of Alliance Coal employees.
Coal mining didn鈥檛 really influence her career path, though, she said.
鈥淢y family is a very outdoorsy family, so I knew from a young age that I wanted a
career that was outdoors. At fifth-grade graduation, we had to say what we wanted
to do, and I said I wanted to be an ecologist.鈥�