Class of 2017

A big congrats to Alisa White,who has been making her mark out in rural Mexico. After graduation Alisa moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to work in environmental consulting. She valued this experience because she strengthened her quantitative analytical skills and got to work on cool projects such as the examination of the impact of air pollution in Santiago, Chile. However, Alisa realized that she did not see herself at a desk long term and wanted to work in the field. She applied for a Dartmouth postgraduate project fellowship and is now conducting a research project in partnership with EcoLogic Development Fund and Fondo Ambiental Regional de la Chinantla, Oaxaca in Oaxaca, Mexico. Alisa researches the viability of carbon-offset programs in rural, forested communities and assists with a National Geographic grant-funded project on community in the Chinantla region. During her time in Mexico she has been living in a home-stay and sharing a room with her 8-year-old host sister. It’s been an interesting change going from living on her own in Boston to living with a family, but she does enjoy getting to play with the kids.

Elise Wien has also taken advantage of the wonderful fellowship opportunities Dartmouth has to offer. Elise applied for a fellowship to continue her play cycle, which will all be around the ’69s; her senior thesis was a play that took place in 1869, and she is working on plays to be set in 1969 and 2069. In order to create a measured oeuvre on life in 2069, Elise traveled to Seattle to research technology and modernity. While she was there, she of course visited her dear friend Daiana Petrova, who works at Amazon. Elise’s writing is not limited to her fellowship. She also has started her “Play-a-week Project,” where she writes a short play each week and posts them to her website. Elise enjoys this because she creates a new masterpiece every week and she can share them with the world. She also started a writing group in New York with Robert Leverett ’16 and Deby Xiadani ’15 to allow themselves and their artistic peers to share their work and provide constructive feedback.

Last but certainly not least is Scott Ortlip, who moved down south last summer. Scott was living in Chicago when a wonderful professional opportunity presented itself last August and led him to Atlanta. Scott now works as an analyst at Stonecutter Capital Management LLC. He loves his job because he wears many hats; his role enables him to work as a data analyst, asset manager, and consultant at the same time. Scott finds it rewarding to make an impact at this Atlanta-based company. It also doesn’t hurt that his new home has some of the best food in the world. Scott loves to eat good meat, but eventually going to steakhouses became a bit too pricey. Consequently, Scott learned how to use a cast iron skillet and experiment with numerous recipes; now he’s an acclaimed cook and runs a food blog named Sear the Steer. When Scott is not at work or in the kitchen, he’s in the great outdoors. He traveled to Canada to summit Mount Eiffel and Mount Provincial Park and then to Colorado to climb the 14,000-footer Mount Holy Cross. Scott is also involved in George Bushcraft and recently got into falconry.

—Dorian Allen, 117 West Grant St., Apt. 123, Minneapolis, MN 55403; (973) 986-5988; dorallen@comcast.net