aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

WWU's Joshua Porter wins award from the MVCC

Jasmine Minbashian, executive director of MVCC and a WWU alumna, presents the Red-tailed Hawk Award to Joshua Porter at a community event in Winthrop on Dec. 27, 2024. Photo by Christine Estrada/MVCC.

Joshua Porter, the director of Western Washington University’s Sustainability Pathways program, recently received the Red-tailed Hawk Award for conservation and climate leadership from the Methow Valley Citizens Council (MVCC).   

The award presented at an event at the Winthrop Barn in the Methow Valley in December recognized Porter’s “commitment to grounding the generations coming up ... with real-life experiences that will shape their futures.”   

“The congratulations I’m receiving around town are a testimony to how collaborative and community-engaged our program is,” said Porter. “Our WWU presence is appreciated, and deepening.”   

Sustainability Pathways is a summer residential program that brings WWU students to the Methow and Okanogan Valleys. The program supports young people pursuing careers across sustainability sectors while advancing local initiatives. The fellowships are open to all majors and pair paid work experience with local organizations, governments, schools, and businesses and aligned coursework in community-based project management. 

Sustainability Pathways is housed in the College of the Environment and works in close partnership with the WWU Sustainability Engagement Institute’s Climate Leadership Certificate program.    

MVCC, an organization whose purpose includes bringing the community together to protect the Methow Valley, has been a Sustainability Pathways partner since it started in 2020. Through the program, WWU students have worked with MVCC on the local climate action plan through Resilient Methow and environmental justice via the Clean Air Methow program.