{"id":24868,"date":"2025-08-21T14:18:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T18:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=24868"},"modified":"2025-08-21T17:03:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T21:03:43","slug":"community-spirit-reflected-in-the-work-of-lund-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/21\/community-spirit-reflected-in-the-work-of-lund-award-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Community spirit reflected in the work of Lund Award winners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Two members of the Clark community have been awarded the 2025 John W. Lund Community Achievement Award for their significant contributions to the Worcester community. Ryan Saboia \u201926 and Geography Professor Rinku Roy Chowdhury<\/a> were honored by President David Fithian and Joseph Corazzini, vice president for government and community affairs, for their dedication to the city and for serving and uplifting marginalized and underserved populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual award, first presented in 1994, recognizes faculty, students, and staff whose leadership has had a positive impact on the surrounding Worcester community. The award is made possible by a gift to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation<\/a> from the late Jack Lund, a retired Worcester business executive, who was a generous supporter of Clark and audited classes at the University for 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy Chowdhury, a professor of geography who received her doctorate from Clark in 2003, was honored for her work in helping to celebrate and protect Worcester\u2019s urban green spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rinku
Geography Professor Rinku Roy Chowdhury<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In presenting her with the Lund Award, President Fithian cited Roy Chowdhury\u2019s work with community partners \u2014 among them Mass Audubon\u2019s Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a>, the Greater Worcester Land Trust<\/a>, and Worcester Native Plant Initiative<\/a> \u2014 that champion the stewardship of Worcester\u2019s natural lands and green spaces, including in underserved environmental justice neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour work epitomizes Jack Lund\u2019s affection for Worcester and his appreciation for Clark\u2019s significant level of community involvement,\u201d Fithian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor James Murphy, director of the Graduate School of Geography, nominated Roy Chowdhury for the award and noted her deep commitment to making a difference across the city. \u201cShe has also been successful in multiplying her impact by additionally fostering and channeling the skills and passion of her students in team-based projects to benefit the community while mobilizing service- and project-based learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClark and Worcester are my home, twice over \u2014 I was a doctoral student here many years ago, and returned here as a faculty member,\u201d Roy Chowdhury said. \u201cOurs is a truly remarkable, resilient city, rich in cultural diversity as well as natural beauty. Nature \u2014 trees, water, wildlife \u2014 is all around us and in our urban spaces, and we need it, depend on it for our own individual health as well as that of our community and city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUrban biodiversity and land conservation are a strong focus of my research \u2014 but more importantly, they are causes I care deeply about. Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to build partnerships with several of our amazing local organizations, who are critical to protecting and connecting our wild and open spaces, and to improving access to them in underserved, \u2018greyer\u2019 regions of our post-industrial city. I am grateful to be able to collaborate with our community partners, and deeply honored by this recognition from the university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saboia, a double major in biochemistry and molecular biology and Spanish, was recognized for his extensive volunteer work in the Worcester community during his time at Clark. At AIDS Project Worcester<\/a>, Saboia advocated for injection drug users in the Syringe Services Program by providing them with sterile and sterilizing resources, education on safe drug usage, and continued clinical care. He also was appointed to a research project on xylazine, a dangerous veterinary tranquilizer that is increasingly being found in illicit drugs and is a leading cause of overdose. He designed APW\u2019s first outreach presentation on the drug, and credits Clark biology professors David Hibbett and Neva Meyer with shaping his understanding of addiction through their classes on opioids, addiction mechanisms, and relapse\/recovery patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ryan
Ryan Saboia \u201926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saboia was ultimately accepted into APW\u2019s Internship Pathway to Employment Program, where he received training in health and human services and worked in the dementia unit of Christopher House of Worcester<\/a>. He engaged with non-English-speaking elderly residents to ensure community-building and proper care, organized performances by Clark musical groups, and spearheaded the translation of Christopher House forms and materials into Spanish \u2014 which involved collaborating with Professor Mar\u00eda Acosta Cruz and her Translation Workshop class (in which Saboia was enrolled).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since May 2024, Saboia has volunteered with the Worcester Free Care Collaborative<\/a> as a medical interpreter, providing Portuguese\/Spanish-to-English services for patients at the free clinic held at St. Peter\u2019s Church. He also leads the training of incoming interpreters and serves as an advocate for the immigrant population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince my freshman year, I have committed to the Latino community by advocating for immigrants\u2019 access to public health through linguistic accessibility and outreach, bridging cultural and communication gaps,\u201d Saboia said. \u201cI also have strived to extend Clark\u2019s impact within the Worcester community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President David Fithian praised Saboia\u2019s \u201cleadership and commitment\u201d in supporting AIDS Project Worcester, Christopher House, and the Worcester Free Care Collaborative. \u201cYour passion and advocacy have exemplified the best of the Clarkie spirit,\u201d Fithian said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Saboia \u201926 and Geography Professor Rinku Roy Chowdhury have been honored for their dedication to the Worcester community and for serving and uplifting the city\u2019s marginalized and underserved populations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":24869,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-blue)","story_headerImg":24869,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223],"displayed_author":[258],"featured":[494],"topic":[148,149,150,524,121,172],"class_list":["post-24868","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","displayed_author-melissa-lynch-95-mspc-15","featured-secondary","topic-community","topic-community-service","topic-faculty","topic-lund-awards","topic-undergraduate-students","topic-worcester"],"yoast_head":"\nCommunity spirit reflected in the work of Lund Award winners | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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