Help us establish the Noy Holland Prize for Ecological Writing and support emerging writers!

What is the Holland Prize for Ecological Writing?

This annual prize will recognize outstanding ecological writing by graduate students in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and the College of Natural Sciences. All students who have taken a course in the environmental humanities or sustainability sciences will be eligible for the Holland Prize.

The prize recognizes Noy's longstanding commitment to mentoring apprentice writers, to community engagement, and to addressing climate change through interdisciplinary work on and beyond the UMass campus. 

How can I help? 

Your gift to the Holland Prize for Ecological Writing will help establish an endowment at UMass Amherst to celebrate and award excellence in ecologically-focused writing across disciplines.  Your contribution will help illuminate the urgency of the ecological challenges that all living creatures face, and it will strengthen the confluence of science and art.  

 Thanks to the diligence of the Environmental Social Action Movement which brings campus unions and students together to catalyze meaningful change, this endowment will be invested in ESG (Environmental Social Governance) funds that exclude fossil fuels and military weapons.  Given this modest victory in the campaign to expand ESG options, as well as a successful year of fundraising, we hope to raise another $11,225 this year to bring the prize up to endowment level.  Although we have three more years to secure $25,000 we'd like to award the prize as soon as possible! We encourage you to consider a multi-year gift to help us achieve this important goal.