OLIVIA SHUMLIN
Brown University, B.A, English

While at Brown, Olivia spent a semester studying anthropology and sociology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She worked at an orphanage in Rwanda and has traveled throughout Europe, Argentina, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Olivia, who participated in Putney’s community service program in the Dominican Republic when she was in high school, first went to Dominica at nine years old. She returns annually and has a deep passion for the people, natural beauty, and magic of the island. Olivia currently lives in Brooklyn, where she works at a tech company. In the fall Olivia will join the Putney team full-time.

DAVID CROOK
McGill University, B.A., Agricultural and Environmental Science, M.A., Geography

As an undergraduate at McGill, David focused on sustainable agriculture while spending his summers working on organic farms in Canada and vineyards in France. After college, he worked in China doing agricultural development research. He then traveled in Indonesia, climbing volcanoes and snorkeling, as well as Western Australia, where he gained experience in farming, mining, and solar energy. Afterward, David returned to McGill to pursue a master’s degree in geography, studying environmental policy and grassland conservation in China. This research led him to the steppes of Inner Mongolia, where he interviewed Mongolian herders about their livelihoods and their views on environmental policies. David is now doing research on sustainable landscapes in Quebec, Canada. He is fluent in Mandarin and proficient in French. David will start working for Putney Student Travel this fall in international recruitment, helping to bring in students from all over the world to take part in Putney’s programs.