WSU Tri-Cities students receive leadership awards

Three students from Washington State University Tri-Cities will be honored Tuesday evening with a state award for their leadership and commitment to their communities.

Brent Ellis, Elinor Lake and Melanie Ford were presented with the Washington Campus Compact President’s Award during a ceremony at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, a release said.

The Washington Campus Compact is the state-level organization of the national Campus Compact, which strives to help improve engagement between students, faculty and their communities.

Ellis, a senior in environmental science, has led construction efforts of Coug House, a joint project with Tri-County Partners Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a family of Burmese refugees.

Lake, a junior in biological sciences, is helping to organize a redesign of WSU Tri-Cities’ recycling program and leads cleanup day efforts around the region.

Ford, a sophomore in viticulture and enology, has researched climate change’s effects on Washington agriculture, specifically when it comes to grapes.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "WSU Tri-Cities students receive leadership awards."