CE People: Torrey Hullum '08

Hometown: Dorchester, Massachusetts

While college shopping, Torrey Hullum ’08 said she found that women's colleges generally had more diversity and stronger science programs. “I was especially attracted by Mount Holyoke’s challenging atmosphere and really unique opportunities,” she added.

Though Torrey had always been interested in environmental issues, she admits that she’d never been stimulated enough to pursue an internship. That changed when–in a college bathroom–she saw a flyer for Mount Holyoke’s Center for the Environment (CE). She attended CE’s next meeting and learned about its partnership with the Boston-based Urban Ecology Institute. “I immediately called the project director--it turned out that her sister is an MHC alum. My summer internship was secured before I even started finals.”

As a Greater Boston Urban Forestry intern, Torrey collected tree data all across Boston with 19 other interns. They walked approximately six miles a day and evaluated every tree in Boston. “By the end of the summer we had detailed maps of tree canopy cover and a better outlook of how to better serve the city's environmental issues,” she explained.

For Torrey, the most inspirational part of attending Mount Holyoke is being surrounded by 2,100 women bound to succeed. “In a society where women are still not equal to men Mount Holyoke is an amazing environment to be in. Everyone I know is on their way to doing something big. I have a friend who is an intern at Pfizer, another at Harvard Business School, another at a medical school internship program, and another doing research at Yale. The list goes on and on. We feed off one another and are happy for each other's successes.”