Ecology, Environmental Sciences Student Wins NOAA Scholarship
Contact: George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Laura Wood, sophomore in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from Scarborough, has been awarded a 2008 Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The scholarship provides financial assistance for her junior and senior years, and a summer internship at a NOAA facility.
“This is another example of our best students’ competitiveness in national scholarship programs,” says Mark Anderson, undergraduate coordinator of the UMaine Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program and professor in the School of Economics.
Wood will know the amount of her financial assistance during the summer. She also is considering several NOAA facilities in Southern Maine for her internship, she says.
The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance up to $8,000 per year for full-time study during the academic year; a 10-week, full-time summer internship position at a NOAA facility; and, if reappointed, academic assistance up to $8,000 for full-time study during a second nine-month academic year.
An average of 600 undergraduate college students apply for Hollings scholarships annually. Only about 100 scholars are selected each year.
The Hollings scholarship program is designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research and education, and also foster multidisciplinary training opportunities. It also is intended to increase public understanding of the need for responsible stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere and to aid in recruiting and preparing students for teaching or public service careers with natural resource and science agencies, including NOAA, at federal, state and local levels of government.