Student Profile: Deborah Aller

A hut in a manyatta, or family compound, in rural Kenya.

A Stellar Graduate: Deborah Aller Receives Prestigious Chancellor’s Award

When SoMAS undergraduate Deborah Aller stepped away from the stage at this year’s SoMAS Convocation, she could look back at a career at Stony Brook that was more than distinguished. Deborah took a degree in the SoMAS Environmental Studies program, one of four academic majors offered by the school. Perhaps the capstone of her time at the University came late last fall, when it was announced that Deborah was to receive a Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, a prestigious honor given to premier student leaders and scholars throughout the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The award is the highest bestowed on undergraduates within the SUNY system and is given to less than one-tenth of one percent of all matriculated undergraduates each year. The Chancellor’s Award recognizes those special students who not only excel academically, but also demonstrate impressive accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative arts and/or career achievement.

The Chancellor’s Award is just one of a long list of honors bestowed upon Deborah. She excelled in academics – making the Dean’s list every semester – and sports – being a member of the women’s soccer team at Stony Brook. Her coach and teammates recently nominated her for 2011 NCAA Woman of the Year. In September 2009, Deborah was recognized as Stony Brook’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URECA) researcher of the month, highlighting her URECA-sponsored research on water quality in Tanzania. Deborah was also awarded the Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship and the Evan R. Liblit Scholarship from SoMAS for the 2010-2011 academic year. Both scholarships are awarded to students who exhibit high academic performance, service to the community and participation in research, and in the case of the Liblit Scholarship, waste management-related research.

Debbie Aller and drinking water sample, rural Tanzania

Deborah conducted scientific research throughout her academic career at Stony Brook. In the summer of 2008, she participated in an independent study with the International Academic Summer Program, monitoring drinking water quality in rural villages in Tanzania. Her initial work revealed that half the villages had water sources that were below the World Health Organization’s standards for safe drinking water. This prompted her return to Tanzania in 2009 to a more arid region of the country, supported by both URECA and SoMAS professor Dr. Kamazima Lwiza, where she investigated water quality in an additional 15 villages. Deborah’s studies in Tanzania are now being prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Deborah traveled to Fiji to learn about shark biology and conservation. Most recently, she spent a semester abroad at the Turkana Basin Institute Field School in Northern Kenya.

Debbie and future members of the Kenyan World Cup squad.

Of her work on potable water supplies in East Africa, Deborah says, “Traveling and conducting research in Tanzania really opened my eyes to the daily struggles of millions of people worldwide just to obtain basic necessities like food and water. My experiences have made me extremely appreciative of everything around me and have shown me cultures very different from my own.”

That Deborah should achieve excellence in research and education, and travel the world in doing so, should perhaps come as no surprise. Her proud parents, Drs. Bob and Josie Aller, are professors with SoMAS. Coming off her stellar undergraduate career, it should also come as no surprise that Deborah wants to continue her education. In the fall, she will enroll at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in a masters program dealing with human and societal adaptation to climate change. Speaking of her longer career plans, Deborah says, “I ultimately wish to continue studying and conducting research in the developing world, particularly Africa.”