Bard Alum Continues Award-Winning Research as Grad Student

Bard College Posse alumnus Azlan Maqbool is now pursuing a master’s degree in geology and environmental science at Queens College.

He was awarded Bard’s Rachel Carson Prize for outstanding senior project in environmental science.

This past May, Azlan was awarded Bard’s Rachel Carson Prize for outstanding senior project in environmental science. His winning undergraduate research project was dedicated to measuring legionella, bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ Disease, in air near waste water treatment plants. He used samples taken outside the Newtown Creek Superfund site in New York City.

Azlan will continue this same research at Queens College as he works towards his master’s.

“I definitely bounced around undergraduate majors looking for a good intellectual fit,” he says, reflecting on his time at Bard. “Environmental and urban studies was where I found my sweet spot.”

Azlan looks forward to continuing a career in environmental science, which he finds combines a rewarding mix of hard science skills and social justice concerns.