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Senior First Smith Student to Win Rhodes Scholarship

Olivia Goodman ’14
News Editor

Smith student Clarke Knight ‘14 has been named one of the 32 recipients of the 2014 Rhodes Scholarship representing the United States.  Knight, a chemistry major, is Smith’s first American Rhodes Scholar.
The Rhodes Scholarship, established in 1902 by its namesake Cecil Rhodes, is a highly selective program that selects students for their outstanding achievements and research to attend Oxford University and continue their studies. Scholars generally receive around $50,000 if selected.
“It’s been an improbable journey from the southwestern Mojave Desert to Smith,” said Knight.  “I grew up in the suburbs of Las Vegas, Nevada, and I attended public schools. I applied to several colleges, many much closer to home than Smith. I visited Smith in the summer before my senior year, and I felt a tremendous fit with the campus and the people I met. When I got the acceptance letter and invitation about the STRIDE program, all other places just paled in comparison.”
Knight’s decision to pursue a degree in chemistry resulted from a longtime fascination with how the material world works.  Her childhood in the desert shaped her interests in agriculture and the environment.  “It is clear that our generation must give the outstanding environmental and climate justice issues our full attention,” she said. “My impatience with the lack of evidence-based policy on climate change issues has greatly spurred my current path. There is still a dichotomy between those who deal with abstraction of science and those in the trenches of policy-making, and our generation does not have the time for that dichotomy.”
Knight decided to spend summer breaks traveling and studying in lieu of taking a semester abroad.  She spent time in a fellowship at the Center for Disease Control and, most recently, at the University of Tasmania, where she was supported by a grant that enabled her to research two plant diseases significantly affecting the global potato crop with a plant pathologist.  “I love basic scientific research, which includes a lot of time spent researching and doing laboratory experiments. My work in Tasmania and with the CDC were fantastic opportunities – both of which I found with help through the Lazarus Center for Career Development – to get experience in the field, in the lab setting and in the professional and governmental setting. I used the international Praxis funds to go to Tasmania during the summer of 2012, which really drives home how lucky we are at Smith to be able to get funds and have internships abroad.”
Knight is the author of the book Footnotes in Architecture, which resulted from a STRIDE project she began in her first year with architecture professor James Middlebrook where she investigated why so few women are at the top of the field.  She is also a member of the varsity crew and cross-country teams.  “Sports, friends and having a personal life are very important to me, and I learned that good time management allows me to make room for many of the things I want to do. Some of the most meaningful experiences and best friendships I’ve made have come from sports, not to mention that I love running and rowing in and of themselves. I may not have gotten eight hours of sleep a night, but I’ve made time for the things outside of class that make life fuller.”
Knight, along with fifteen other Rhodes finalists from her region of Southern California/Hawaii, participated in all-day interviews the day the final scholarship decisions were made. She recalled, “They delivered the news to the entire group. Honestly, I was stunned. The whole day I was thinking there was no chance I would actually win because the candidates were all amazing people. I remember getting hugs from the other finalists and the interviewers, and I remember dancing, shouting, and crying. I was in total disbelief that they called my name.

“I had so much support from the Smith Fellowships Office on my application for the Rhodes. I saw a fantastic opportunity in the Rhodes, and every step of the way I received guidance and encouragement from my professors and advisors to pursue this. I would encourage any Smith student to consider scholarships for further study and to tap into the support system for help and camaraderie that comes with it.  It’s difficult to describe how profoundly Smith has changed my life, and I’m not sure I’ve fully realized the extent of the personal changes that have occurred. I am a much more confident person with clearer goals. Not only have I found a career trajectory that I want to pursue, but I have the skill set from my Smith education to really take on the next challenges and succeed.”

Knight’s scholarship will help her to pursue Masters in Philosophy in Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford.  At the core of the two-year program are policy and science, allowing Knight to pursue her interdisciplinary interests.  “I am most excited about learning from some of the leading climate scientists and academics in the world,” said Knight. “Oxford is truly a global school, so I will also meet people from around the world. I’m not quite sure where this will take me, and that ambiguity is half the fun, but I want to bridge the two cultures of science and policy by translating basic science into applied knowledge.  I’m excited to start this adventure – to meet new and interesting people and have conversations about our international differences and commonalities, to live and study abroad in one of the oldest universities in the world.”

Reflecting on her dwindling time at Smith, Knight reminisced, “I will definitely miss the people I’ve met here: my friends, advisors and professors. I am proud to be a Smithie.  Enjoy the Smith experience.  Four years goes by incredibly fast.”