KATIE BURNS OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior on the women's swimming team who hails from Lake Forest, Ill., has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending January 23, 2011.

Burns competes in the backstroke, freestyle and relays and is a captain for the Tiger swin team.

An Environmental Policy Major with a 3.4 GPA, Burns spent around three months last year, the seventh and eighth block of the CC academic calendar, with a British Not-for-profit called Blue Ventures that is based on the southwest coast of Madagascar, in the small fishing village of Andavadoaka. While there, she scuba dove each day to gather information on the impact of overfishing and global warming on coral reefs. This data went into analyzing the boundaries of a Community Based Natural Resource Management system that was created by the surrounding fishing villages with help from Blue Ventures volunteers. The management plan is a marine protected area in which the health and diversity of fish and coral species is measured periodically and then compared to data of the unprotected, overfished areas.

The aim of the conservation and research is to gather support to show villagers that overfishing is detrimental to the livelihood of their children and future generations and could possibly cause them to move away from their home.

Burns also did independent research with the heads of the program, both Malagasy and British, to study the effectiveness of the marine protected area as well additional incentives to villagers to explore alternative sources of income such as aqua culture, sea cucumber farming, textiles, and groups that economically empower women.

Burns also spent time teaching English to Malagasy employees of Blue Ventures as well as friends in the program. She helped with translation of thesis papers from Malagasy to French to English, a very time consuming endeavor. She also worked on developing correct English wording for presentations that were a representation of the employees dissertation and Master's work. 

One of Burns' favorite parts of volunteering in Madagascar was teaching English, conservation and family planning to children and adults of the village of Andavadoaka. Once a week the volunteers would hang out at the local school and help teach English and play with the children. Often, Burns traveled to surrounding villages to do research for Blue Ventures and spread the conservation ideology with the adults and children there. 

As a student at Colorado College, Burns writes for The Catalyst (the CC student paper), is a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and was elected a conference representative for Colorado College on the league's SAAC.

An active volunteer in the Colorado Springs community, Burns is a member of the US Green Building Council and partakes in regional events dealing with sustainable design. Last year, she volunteered during "Women in Sports" week at Colorado College and showed youth from the city the opportunities available in sports at CC. This year she helped plan with the SAAC "Parents Night Out" before winter break, when athletes volunteered to watch children of professors or parents in the community for a few hours. In addition, Burns is a trip leader for the Outdoor Recreation Committee and has led college students on outdoor overnight backpacking trips.

Next year, after graduation, Burns would ideally like to work for a non-governmental organization that focuses on Marine conservation.