Matt Genchur
Shelocta, PA
Major: Geography
Matt Genchur started out in high school with an
interest in Geography. He brought that interest to IUP and the
Honors College. Now, on his way through graduate school, Matt's
already working on saving the planet -- or a good part of it.
The wet part.
"When I was in high school, thinking about what universities
I might apply to, I heard about the Honors College just starting
up, and it really intrigued me. At the time, I was thinking about
going into some kind of environmental study and, when I talked
to various professors over the summer, I found out that IUP’s
geography department is one of the best in the state. Between
that and the Honors College setting the new standard for IUP,
it wasn't a tough choice. I thought it would be a good program,
all around. And as it turned out, it really was."
As the first president of the new freshman honor society on campus,
Matt became an integral part of setting new standards for IUP.
He also discovered, with a jolt, that the Honors College would
be integral to Matt Genchur setting new standards for himself.
"It’s a lot of work in the first year and a half,
but what you go through is worth what you get out of it. I found
out you had to be serious about it. You come here with the intent
that 'I want to learn', as opposed to, 'Okay, I’m here, go
ahead and feed it to me so I can memorize it and forget it next
semester.' That’s not the way the Honors College works."
What Matt Genchur got in those first few semesters in the Honors
College was a chance to develop skills in genuine critical thinking.
"I had done that before in spurts, but I think once I
got here with the Core curriculum, it affected the way I approached
classes – and problems – then and now. You are always
taking things a few steps further. Some people come up with one
good idea and they stop. I’m looking for multiple ideas.
If I don’t have options, if I don’t have the best of
what’s out there, then I’m frustrated. I'll give you
an analogy. I play Scrabble a lot. And you have that rack of letters
in front of you. And I think – I can make a word out of that
entire rack and I will sit there, until I get it. And here at
the Honors College, you don't settle for second best. You look
at what's in front of you and you consider the possibilities."
Matt Genchur recognized the change during what he describes as
a fairly 'laid-back' graduation from the Honors College and IUP.
"They played a tape at graduation from when we were freshman,
and one thing that was kind of a turning point for me was listening
to the first presentation from the very first Core question four
years back. Our group did a debate. I was one of the people who
spoke and I hated public speaking. I thought I couldn’t do
it. It wasn’t so much a terrifying thing, but I did not like
to get in front a group of people and speak about something that
I didn’t feel I knew a lot about. And they said, 'Matt, just
get up there you’re doing this.' That, alone, it was a confidence
booster. That, and the fact that I wasn’t thrown off stage
or anything. If you aren’t good at speaking to groups, or
speaking your mind, at the start, you will be when you’re
done. It was phenomenal how I changed from high school, and then
again from that first semester."
And where will changes like that take Matt Genchur? And how do
they apply in upper level courses, in research, in graduate school
– and in that "real world" Matt means to preserve?
"I think the process of where I would go started during
my junior year. I wanted to do an internship, but had no idea
where or what. All I knew for sure was that I had a strong environmental
interest. And then I go an e-mail from the Honors College Director,
Dr. Goebel, describing the Department of Energy's ERULF (Energy
Research Undergraduate Laboratory Fellowships) program. There
are about 10 national labs and they take about 650-700 students
nationwide. I applied and got accepted at both Oakridge National
Laboratory in Tennessee and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
in Golden, Colorado."
Because he wanted practical lab and fieldwork, Matt chose Colorado,
where he could do research on a variety of environment projects.
"My supervisor was working on about 10 different projects
and she started me out working on air quality -- testing options,
looking for solutions. She gave me background research, guides
to running the equipment and then, essentially, let me run with
it. I'd come back with results, tell her what I'd done, what I
might try next and she'd send me back out. At the end she had
me write some research papers on soil and wetland reclamation.
Much of this was teamwork, which is also a valuable experience.
On top of all that, this fellowship had me working and researching
at a national level, which is also good when it comes to applying
to graduate school, and for a job. And, to say that I worked at
the department of energy for a summer and I was in a high security
lab – well, it’s an interesting story to come back and
tell your friends. I was under high surveillance."
Already studying at a Big Ten graduate school, majoring in GIS
(Geographical Information Systems), Matt Genchur sees his long-term
dream becoming reality.
"Growing up where I did, living in a rural community,
I had a daily interaction with the outdoors and that made me want
to be involved in clean-up efforts. And right now, I'm studying
wildlife and fishery sciences and participating in programs at
the Center for Watershed Stewardship. I work with real streams
and real people. If you can come out and say that I’ve done
this and I used GIS, that boosts you sky high and you should be
able to get a job anywhere... so that’s a big, valuable thing
I pulled out of here and the Honors College. And, after I graduate,
and I'm ready to step in to a 'real' job (gasp!), I'd like to
begin a career in watershed management, maybe as a watershed coordinator."
More information about Matt
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