Press Releases

May 11, 2001
Small-Town Girl Makes Good:Valedictorian Danielle Palmer

Now Aims to Save the Manatees: Marine Biology Major Managed 3.98 GPA

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Stellar Marine Biology student Danielle Palmer was recently named top senior at Southampton College and will give the Valedictory Address at Commencement ceremonies next month. Now she wants to help an endangered species.

"I know some people may think it sounds sappy, but my goal is to go to graduate school and find a way to save Florida's manatees," Palmer said. "I fell in love with the animals as a kid, did hands-on research with them last summer and now want to find ways to better protect them."

Palmer, of Scotia, NY, maintained a 3.98 grade-point average in one of Southampton College's most highly competitive divisions - Marine and Environmental Science graduates have won 32 of the College's 35 Fulbright Scholarships in the past 25 years. Graduation is slated to take place on May 20 at 2 p.m. on the West Lawn of Chancellors Hall. In the event of rain, Commencement will be held in the Gym, and attendance will be limited to graduates and their families. Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, style expert and restaurateur B. Smith and noted marine scientist JoAnn Burkholder will receive honorary degrees.

The daughter of MaryAnn and Ron Palmer, Danielle Palmer's dream began to realize last summer at a prestigious internship in the Department of Manatee Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla. There, she helped conduct a census of the endangered animals while also carrying out her own individual research project. Meanwhile, she held seminars with local children about manatees.

At Southampton College, Palmer won several honors, including the Evan Frankel Scholarship, the Natural Science Honors Award and a Britta Mast Scholarship. She also participated in hands-on learning, including college-sponsored research on Tucuxi dolphins off the coast of Costa Rica and helped Southampton College Marine Scientist Paul Forestell conduct photo identifications of spinner dolphins.

"Southampton College was perfect for me because it's a place where you work closely with professors on important research," Palmer said.

Except for one English course her sophomore year where she only scored a B+, Palmer has been perfect. "The secret is study, study, study," she said. "It's just constant hard work."

From a close-knit family and a part of the state where the cow population rivals the human population, Palmer knows she's likely heading back to Florida and its vanishing manatees. She hasn't decided on a graduate school yet, but wants to be involved in conservation biology - doing the kind of research that leads to laws that protect her 1000-pound pals.

"My older brothers used to pick on me because I always said that I wanted to save the planet," she remembered, "but, in a way, I still feel like I can."