Tilden Remerleitch, a geography major and Chinese minor, was awarded a prestigious Boren Scholarship in 2016. The David L. Boren Scholarship is a nationally competitive award that provides up to $20,000 for students to study a critical foreign language in a nontraditional country important to U.S. national security. Remerleitch, from Guilford, Vt., studied Mandarin in Shanghai during a pre-UVM gap year experience through a State Department-funded National Security Language Initiative for Youth. This summer, in Dalian City, Remerleitch built on her Mandarin language skillset as a participant on the Critical Language Scholarship program. The scholarship funded Remerleitch to complete two complementary study abroad programs in Shanghai where she gained more in-depth knowledge about mega-city issues in China while developing greater fluency in Mandarin. Her academic research interests focus on the energy, water usage, and environmental consequences of supporting mega-cities like Shanghai.