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Breana Mahoney Wins Ryan Environmental Prize for Excellence in Research
2nd annual symposium supported by longtime VWU benefactors Prudence and Louis Ryan
University News | May 3, 2024
At the 2nd annual Louis and Prudence Ryan Environmental Research Symposium held Thursday, May 2, Batten Honors College student Breana Mahoney was awarded the Ryan Environmental Prize for Excellence in Research. 
During the symposium, students from the fall and spring Batten Honors College senior seminars presented research on innovative approaches to addressing issues of the environment and sustainability. The event featured a poster session of all the participating students, as well as presentations from the three finalists: Edward McDonald who presented “Localized Solutions to Glass Recycling in Urbanized Coastal Communities”; Rhian Tramontana who presented “Implementation of Opioid Education at VWU”; and Breana Mahoney who presented “Broadening Awareness of Melanoma and Skin of Color on College Campuses.”
As winner of the top award, Mahoney received a $750 cash prize and a $750 donation in her name to the nonprofit environmental organization of her choosing. She was selected as the winner by a panel of three judges: Christy Everett, Hampton Roads Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Karen Forget, Executive Director of the Lynnhaven River Now; and Theresa Augustin, Vice President of Education at Norfolk Botanical Garden.
"Because dark skin is less likely to burn, black people often do not use sunscreen,” says Mahoney. “That’s why they are more likely to receive a late diagnosis and their survival rate drops.” And because knowledge is the best tool for survival, Mahoney developed a comprehensive PSA campaign to educate people of color on the VWU campus.
Before the awards were presented, VWU President Dr. Scott D. Miller reminded students of the guidance he offered when they were accepted into the Batten Honors College. “I told them that their education and experiences in the Batten Honors College at Virginia Wesleyan would prepare them to solve problems creatively, think globally, make connections, and work towards a better world.”
Dr. Miller explained that the evening's symposium and prize helped realize the vision of philanthropist Jane Batten for an honors college with a global mission. "We are so grateful that the Ryans believed in Mrs. Batten's vision," he said, "and generously created an endowment to fund this symposium and the Ryan Prize."
Dr. Miller was referring to longtime Virginia Wesleyan friends and benefactors Prudence and Louis Ryan. Along with serving on the VWU Board of Trustees since 2007, Louis Ryan has served since 2006 on the board of directors of the Elizabeth River Project, an important partner of VWU and the Batten Honors College. In his opening remarks presented via video, Ryan explained why he and his wife, whose share the philanthropic passions of education and the environment, chose to create a $150,000 endowment to support the research symposium and fund its prizes.
“What a good education does,” Ryan said, “is teach you how to think. And what I mean is learning to think critically, creatively and holistically. Doing that is really necessary to guarantee the survival and thriving of humanity.” Environmental research, he said, is the perfect place to both learn those skills and to practice them.
“This symposium creates a natural opportunity for students—and faculty, for that matter—to engage in this kind of thinking and to hopefully do meaningful research that will add to our knowledge of the issues we face with our environment and how we should go about dealing with those issues.”