Congratulations, Class of 2025 Interns!
As we celebrate all Wake Forest graduates this spring, we want to give special recognition to the Sustainability Intern Class of 2025. These eight seniors made immeasurable contributions to sustainability at Wake through their combined 18 semesters of service with the Office of Sustainability. In addition to their official roles as interns with our office, they were mainstays in other areas of sustainability across campus as well, including SLG ‘25, dEaCOfriendly, Connect & Cultivate, and Greeks Go Green, and have earned three Champions of Change campus sustainability awards between them.
Join us in appreciation as we honor these eight graduating Deacs and wish them well on their journey.
Grace Benfield
Energy Intern: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Energy – Building Systems Data Intern: Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Grace graduated with a BS in engineering (concentration in civil and environmental engineering) and a minor in environmental science. She will be moving to Raleigh to begin her position as Civil Engineering Analyst with Kimley-Horn.
The only four-time intern in the Class of 2025, Grace spent the past two years serving as a bridge between the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Maintenance & Utilities Services within Facilities. Through her position, Grace learned about the inner workings of Wake Forest, analyzing data on gross carbon emissions, water, steam, electricity, and natural gas. Her work allowed her to identify systems that were not not operating optimally and that therefore required maintenance to keep our use of natural resources as low as possible. Grace also helped produce educational materials for the greater university community and provided her colleagues (and possibly some of her mentors) with a deeper understanding of utilities on a college campus. Grace’s sense of humor, kind nature, reliability, and engineering smarts will be sorely missed on our team, but we know that our loss will be Kimley-Horn’s gain.
Anna Beim
Alternative Transportation Intern: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Anna graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English and environment and sustainability studies with honors and a minor in Italian. Anna received the Environment and Sustainability Studies award, an honor given to a Wake Forest senior graduating with a major in Environment and Sustainability Studies, selected on the basis of overall performance in ENV courses, accomplishment of original research, and a commitment to action. Later this summer, she will be moving to New York City to begin law school at Columbia University.
Throughout her year working on alternative transportation, Anna mastered the art of the pivot. Tackling the ever-changing and complicated topic of micromobility is no simple task, but her survey work, research, and campaign development skills have helped us and our partners in Transportation and Parking Services gain a greater understanding of student behavior and decision-making as we work together to continue moving the needle on the adoption of walking, biking, carpooling, and using the Wake shuttles to reduce the reliance on single-occupancy vehicles. Outside of the office, she also served as dEaCOfriendly’s vice president this past year. Anna’s adaptability, work ethic, and penchant for problem solving will serve her well in law school and as a future environmental lawyer.
Sophie Eldridge
First-Year Leadership Intern: Fall 2022, Spring 2023
Sophie graduated summa cum laude with a BS in biology with honors and a second major in politics and international affairs, along with a minor in environmental science. She was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. In 2022, Sophie was presented with a Champions of Change campus sustainability award for her work on Hammock Haven and was named the Chinundet-Crowe Leadership Scholarship recipient the following year. After graduating, she will remain with Wake Forest University, albeit across the Atlantic as an International Program Assistant in Venice, Italy.
Sophie began her sustainability work at Wake as a member of SLG ‘25 and quickly emerged as an ambitious, reliable leader for her peers. She and three of her SLG teammates came up with “Hammock Haven,” a series of pop-up events promoting community, mental health, and connections with nature in a wooded area adjacent to South Campus. This successful initiative prepared her for her next role, mentoring the SLG ‘26 class as the First-Year Leadership Intern and empowering the subsequent class to lead in the sustainability transformation. She also served as a Connect & Cultivate leader in the Campus Garden, was a change agent for APO with Greeks Go Green, served as vice president of dEaCOfriendly, and teamed up with one of her peers to give a powerful presentation on climate change-induced flooding in Venice for the 2023 edition of Earth Talks. Sophie’s kind, level-headed demeanor served as a solid anchor for her peers and will be an asset to her in her next role.
Isabella Gerace
Dining Engagement Intern: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Isabella graduated with a BA in environment and sustainability studies and a second major in Spanish. She was presented with a Champions of Change campus sustainability award in 2023 and earned the New Student Organization of the Year award that same year for dEaCOfriendly.
By the time Isabella joined the intern team as a senior, she was already well established as a sustainability leader on campus. Following her year in SLG ‘25, she noted the lack of student organizations focused on the environment and set out to create one herself. Isabella proved her versatility by creating and successfully chartering dEaCOfriendly, marketing the organization to attract well over 100 students in its first semester, and serving as its first president. Since then, dEaCO has become a fixture on campus that has partnered with organizations, offices, and departments across the university on a variety of events and initiatives. Not surprisingly, Isabella’s work ethic remained on full display as a dining intern as she developed outreach activities, pop-ups, and larger events to help drive students’ adoption of plant-forward dining, third-party certified foods, and food waste prevention measures. Her departure will be felt across campus next year, but she has undoubtedly blazed a trail for others who will do their best to fill her shoes.
Aidan Norris
Waste Reduction & Diversion Intern: Spring 2023
Athletics Waste Reduction & Diversion Intern: Fall 2022
Aidan graduated summa cum laude with a BS in engineering and physics with honors. In 2022, he was presented with a Champions of Change campus sustainability award for his work on Hammock Haven. He will be joining the Peace Corps this summer as a teacher in Namibia.
Like Sophie, Aidan spent his first year at Wake Forest as a member of SLG ‘26 and was an integral part of the team that brought Hammock Haven to life. He also presented a unique Earth Talk—“Food Forests: A Practice in Environmental Humility”—that drew on his unique upbringing. During his time as an intern, Aidan worked on a variety of waste-related projects, including recycling and organic waste collection at football tailgates, data collection at athletics events, textile recycling, assessing knowledge gaps among the student body, educational outreach, and the Deacs Donate program. Following his stint as an intern, he continued his involvement in sustainability efforts as a Sustainability Ambassador. Aidan’s ability to work well with anyone made him a true team player and asset to the team. We are excited for the impact he will have as he follows his passion for positively impacting communities in developing countries.
Molly Pluta
Dining Engagement Intern: Fall 2022, Spring 2023
Molly graduated magna cum laude with a BA in environmental science with honors and a minor in politics and international affairs. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Molly will be working as an Environmental Organizer for Green Corps, working and living in at least three different cities in the United States over the course of the following year.
As the first student to hold the Dining Engagement Intern position, Molly helped pave the way for the robust outreach and educational efforts that exist today in the Pit and at other dining locations across campus. Through a variety of pop-up events and educational initiatives, she was able to introduce a large number of students to how their dining choices can have a positive impact on ecosystems and communities through plant-forward dining, sustainable sourcing, and food waste reduction. Molly’s creative mind and friendly personality made her a perfect fit for the role and helped further cement the close partnership between the Office of Sustainability and Harvest Table Culinary Group.
Mia Springer
Peer Education Intern: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Mia graduated with a BA in biology and minors in journalism and environmental science. She will be taking a gap year while studying for the LSAT and applying to law schools for Fall 2026.
Mia is another example of a student whose two semesters as an intern do not tell the full story of her contributions to sustainability at Wake. She started off as a member of SLG ‘25, where her enthusiasm and positivity made her a natural leader among her peers, and then served as a change agent for her sorority with Greeks Go Green. In 2023, she gave a captivating Earth Talk on deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, chronicling her study abroad experience. This past year, Mia’s efforts as the Peer Education intern helped introduce first-years and upperclass student alike to sustainability through educational outreach and unique events like sustainable cooking classes. She also helped mobilize and lead members of the newly formed Sustainability Ambassadors program. Our office will miss Mia’s proactive nature and infectious energy.
Maddy Wecker
Dining Carbon Reduction Intern: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Maddy graduated summa cum laude with a BS in biology with honors and a triple minor in environmental studies, entrepreneurship, and chemistry. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society. Maddy will begin pursuing her Ph.D. in energy, environmental, and chemical engineering this fall at Washington University in St. Louis.
Maddy found herself involved in multiple sustainability leadership roles prior to serving as an intern her senior year. She first honed her skills as a Connect & Cultivate leader in the Campus Garden and later became a Greeks Go Green representative for her sorority. This past year, Maddy made a lasting impact on dining operations at Wake Forest as she helped create guidance for culinarians to purchase ingredients that are third party certified for sustainability, along with a system for Deacon Dining to audit their purchases and ensure that sustainable sourcing priorities are adhered to. This system helped Wake Forest achieve its highest percentage of third party certified sourcing to date, leading Harvest Table Culinary Group to explore implementing it at other universities. Maddy’s drive, insight, and attention to detail will certainly continue to serve as an asset to her as she pursues her Ph.D.