Upper School science teacher Emily Boyer will be the inaugural endowed Melanie C. Fields Faculty Chair in Environmental and Life Sciences.

The chair, and a professional development grant fund also named in Melanie’s honor, were made possible by $2 million in support by more than 70 donors as a permanent reminder of Melanie’s teaching and friendship.

Melanie Fields P ’00, ’05 touched the lives of countless students and colleagues during her 34 years at Sidwell Friends School. Her death in February 2023, just two years after her retirement, brought forth an outpouring of tributes and remembrances from the community that continues to hold her and her family in the Light.

“Our family is deeply moved by the kindness and generosity of Melanie’s former students and colleagues in honoring her memory in this way,” says Melanie’s husband Doug Fields. “And we congratulate Emily on this well-deserved honor. We know she will embody the spirit of Melanie’s legacy of devotion to science and teaching and will infuse it with her own unique talents and dedication to teaching.”

Carrying Forward a Shared Mission

After arriving at Sidwell Friends in 2013, Emily was a dear colleague of Melanie’s for many years, working with her and other colleagues to develop meaningful curricula and experiential learning opportunities for students.

As a biological and environmental educator, Emily has deepened students’ understanding of science and the application of research to help understand and protect the natural world. She has helped design an innovative new advanced course in earth systems and climate change, as well as a semester elective on ecology and conservation. In these courses, as she has done throughout her time at Sidwell Friends, Emily has fully embraced the critical importance of experiential education that Melanie Fields valued.

Indeed, it has been hard to miss Emily and her students walking down to Rock Creek as they participate in long-term water quality monitoring with Nature Forward. Emily looks forward to growing such partnerships with local nonprofits and environmental organizations to help open new independent research opportunities for students.

Grounded in Quaker Values

The Quaker tenet of stewardship and our collective responsibility to care for the earth shapes the Sidwell Friends community. Each day, our students learn how their actions affect the environment and gain the knowledge and experience they need to help address significant environmental challenges. It all starts here with teachers like Emily and Melanie.

The Melanie C. Fields Faculty Chair in Environmental and Life Sciences is a testament to our commitment to environmental stewardship and will impact environmental education at Sidwell Friends School for generations.

I know how vitally important the science and outdoor experiences Melanie provided were to students during their time here,” says Emily. “It will be a tremendous honor to be able to carry out the work that she was most passionate about.”

Sidwell Friends School benefits from more than 186 endowed funds that support student financial aid, faculty roles and professional development opportunities, and other unique programs. To learn more about the impact of establishing an endowed fund, please contact Amanda Meter, senior director of individual giving at metera@sidwell.edu.