From Left to Right: Jamie Pierson, Joshua Cohee, Autumn Conley, Davonte Douglas, Thomas Reincke, Laura Wiltsee, Suzanne Sullivan, Bruna Sobrinho
On June 30, at the Chapter’s monthly dinner meeting, seven local students received scholarship awards ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 for a total of $14,500. Each recipient and attending parents were introduced and each student gave us a bit of background about themselves and their aspirations for college and career.
The three graduate students are attending the Univ. of MD, Center for Environmental Studies in Cambridge at the Horn Point campus: Laura Wiltsee, Bruna Sobrinho, and Nicole Trenholm. Dr. Jamie Pierson represented the Laboratory’s candidate selection committee in place of Mrs. Carin Starr (get well soon). Also attending, in support of the winners, was Dr. Patricia Glibert.
Nicole Trenholm was unable to attend the dinner because she is on a research vessel headed for Greenland and will be participating on a team studying glacial coastal fjords that host various water masses that influence the coastal fjord biomass generation, species richness, socio-economy and carbon burial. Nicole is pursuing a PhD. She comes to Horn Point with extensive field work, having obtained a B.S. from LaSalle University in Geology. Between 2015 and 2020 she has participated in studies in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and the Northwest Passage in the Artic. — Nicole’s scholarship was funded by the IWLA Maryland Division.
Laura Wiltsee did her undergraduate studies a RutgersUniversityand received a B.S. in Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography. In the winter of 2020, she participated in a Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) project on the West Antarctica Peninsula for six weeks. Focusing on phytoplankton data collection using filtered chlorophyll samples, imaging flow cytometry, and fluorescence. Currently Laura is a Shellfish Aquaculture Innovation Laboratory (SAIL) Fellow and has done research on oyster feeding and respiration flow and on salinity tolerance. Laura’s current research is focused on how oysters change their feeding based on the environment around them.
Bruna Sobrinho grew up in Brazil and studied Oceanography at the Federal University of Paraná., Enchanted by the beauty of phytoplankton and their importance for the health of the planet, she has chosen pursue graduate studies, working with Professor Patricia Glibert and conducting research on the ecology and physiology of phytoplankton. Bruna is participating in a multi-disciplinary project studying the blooms of Karenia brevis in Florida.
The undergraduate students were selected by a Mid-Shore Chapter committee of three members, chaired by Suzanne Sullivan with concurrent reviews by Dr. Shawn McLaughlin and Mr. Jacob Shaner, both from the Oxford Laboratory.
Joshua Cohee is from Preston, Maryland and plans to attend Chesapeake College in the Fall to major in Criminal Justice along with playing baseball at the college. His goal is to become a Natural Resource Police Officer.
Autumn Conley is from Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. She will be a senior at Shepherd University and is looking forward to graduating with a B.S. in Environmental Studies next May. In all probability, Autumn will be going on to graduate school (maybe Horn Point).
Davonte Douglas is from Preston, Maryland and he is currently entering his senior year at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He’s very passionate about environmental issues, especially in his home state of Maryland. This summer Davonte is working as a student technical assistant at the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Thomas Reincke lives in Dorchester County Maryland and will be attending the University of Maryland College Park to major in environmental science and technology.
The Chapter is most fortunate to have persons working in the environmental sciences field as chapter members and committee members who can readily assess the various candidates. Comprehending the accomplishments of our candidates is well beyond the knowledge of those of us laypersons. Again, many thanks to Carin, Jamie, Pat, Suzanne, Shawn and Jake.– Let’s do it again next year and many thereafter.
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