Press Release
August 11, 2005
Clark University Student from Torrington uses Anton Fellowship to research “Green” Businesses
WORCESTER, Mass. - Sean P. Hurley of Torrington, Conn., is one of ten Clark University undergraduates who will pursue independent scholarly and creative activities this summer and during the upcoming academic year with support from the Anton Fellowship Program.
Hurley has been using funding from his Anton Fellowship this summer to conduct research on the "green" market. He is interviewing owners and customers of businesses in several areas of the U.S., including those in Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Michigan. His goal is to explore factors that influence the owners' decisions to start or buy a "green" business in a particular location and the characteristics and attitudes of the people who shop at them.
Joseph Sarkis, professor of operations and environmental management at Clark, describes Hurley’s project as “ambitious,” and he believes the student will be able to prepare a thorough undergraduate research publication from his project.
Hurley also received funding through Clark’s Dean's Office and Management Department to attend the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics Conference in Tacoma, Wash., late last month. There, he presented preliminary results of his research.
More information about Hurley’s research project, including an interview with the marketing director of Whole Foods in Ann Arbor, Mich., and information about The Keweenaw Co-op Natural Foods & Deli in Hancock, Mich., is available at www.theinitiative.org.
Hurley is a management major and member of Clark's Class of 2006. He is the son of Tim and Pam Hurley and is a 2002 graduate of Torrington High School.
This is the fifth year of the Anton Fellowship Program, which was created by a gift from Barbara ’56 and Thomas ’56 Anton to give undergraduates more opportunities to explore their intellectual interests. The fellowships range from $500 to $2,500. Recipients also become members of the Society of Anton Fellows, which meets with faculty mentors at special gatherings throughout the year to share their research experiences. The Anton Fellowship Program is directed by Professor Sharon Krefetz.
Krefetz said this year's fellows were “a terrific group of students.”
“They’re pursuing a wide range of topics for their projects and are traveling all over the world--from Africa to South America and Worcester to San Francisco--to do them,” she said. Krefetz said all of the students “have a genuine passion for their projects and a keen desire to share what they learn with each other and with the Clark community.”
Clark University is a private, co-educational liberal-arts research university with 2,000 undergraduate and 600 graduate students. Since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in the United States, Clark has challenged convention with innovative programs such as the International Studies Stream, the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the accelerated BA/MA programs with the fifth year tuition-free for eligible students.
Angela Bazydlo
Associate Director, Media Relations
(508) 793-7635
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