Ava Bellwoar ’23 Pursues a Future in Environmental Science

For Ava Bellwoar ’23, her time at Resurrection College Prep High School helped lay the foundation for a future centered on environmental sustainability, conservation and meaningful connections with others. Now, as she prepares to begin her senior year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ava is continuing to turn her passion for the environment into hands-on experience.

Since graduating from RES in 2023, Ava has pursued a degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Alongside her studies, she works part-time at the University’s Sustainable Student Farm and participates in philanthropic events through the Alpha Phi Foundation.

Ava’s passion for environmental science began taking shape during her time at RES. While she had always been concerned about environmental issues and passionate about the environment, it was her senior-year AP Environmental Science course that helped solidify her career goals. The class showed Ava that she wanted to dedicate her professional life to conserving the planet’s resources and protecting its ecosystems for a more sustainable future.

That passion led to an exciting opportunity this summer when Ava worked as an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) intern at ProAmpac, a global flexible packaging company. In the role, she worked alongside EHS specialists to help ensure industrial operations followed U.S. and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Her responsibilities included collecting data for hazardous waste management, learning more about environmental policy, maintaining environmental and workplace regulations, and helping create procedures to strengthen compliance.

One of Ava’s proudest accomplishments from the internship was designing and conducting hazardous waste audits to create safer environmental and public health practices in the industrial areas where she worked. The procedures and audits she developed will continue to be implemented after her internship concludes—something Ava says makes the experience particularly rewarding.

“Knowing my work will remain impactful by ensuring regulatory compliance and safety is extremely rewarding,” Ava shared.

While Ava’s academic and professional experiences have helped shape her future, she also carries an important lesson from her time at RES: the value of sisterhood.

“The friendships I made during high school are ones that have continued to be the strongest and most special in my life, even after graduation,” Ava reflected. Her experience at Resurrection taught her not only how to nurture and appreciate those relationships, but also how to build meaningful connections beyond her high school years.

As Ava enters her senior year at UIUC, she is bringing with her the environmental passion that began at RES, the professional experience she has gained through internships and campus opportunities, and the relationships and values she developed as a Resurrection student. We wish Ava a wonderful senior year!