The Friends of Volo Bog Scholarship Committee has selected this year’s scholarship recipients. These scholarships support students who are planning careers related to the environment and nature. We had so many excellent applicants and we always wish we could award more. This year, the committee was able to award four scholarships, thanks to increased funding from the FOVB board and a generous donation from Dave and Cynthia LeMieux, who have funded a scholarship for each of the last several years. Dan Haller, Dave Lemieux, and Caryn McAndrews made up this year’s scholarship committee.
We are delighted to announce the 2024 FOVB Scholarship winners: Heidi Gibson, Katherine Stabb, Ashley Delgado Lagunas and Kiera Majzner. Three of them are entering college in the fall, and one is continuing her college education.
Heidi Gibson is currently a student at Trinity Oaks Christian Academy in Cary, and lives in McHenry. She is planning to study environmental science at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, and hopes to devote her life to “studying, preserving, and educating others about our natural surroundings.”
Heidi does volunteer work caring for and teaching about birds at Wings and Talons in Itasca, clearing brush and monitoring plants at Volo Bog, and monitoring bluebirds at Moraine Hills State Park.
Katherine Stabb is currently a student at Oak Park & River Forest High School, and lives in Oak Park. This fall, she will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she plans to work toward an environmental career, with hopes to address climate change.
Katherine is on her high school’s Sustainability Scorecard team, and she is also involved with the youth environmental advocacy group It’s Our Future. Katherine’s volunteer work has caused her to feel “more dedicated than before to adding my voice, and ultimately my career, to the movement for a just transition to environmental sustainability.”
Ashley Delgado Lagunas is currently a student at George Washington Prep High School in Chicago, where she lives. She will attend Pomona College in Claremont, California, to pursue a major in Environmental Analysis with the hope of becoming an environmental consultant. She’d love to see a “better world where sustainability is at the forefront of our decision-making.”
Ashley has been actively involved with her school’s Environmental Club, and last year participated in the week-long Exelon STEM Academy with projects addressing sustainability.
Our continuing college winner is Kiera Majzner of Crystal Lake. She is studying both environmental science and Spanish at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
Kiera has been a Peer Teaching Assistant and now interns as an undergraduate researcher at her school’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute. She plans to pursue a career in environmental and wildlife conservation, and hopes to work for an organization such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the USDA after graduation.
This summer, she will be visiting Costa Rica with NAU, to apply her Spanish-speaking skills and enhance her cultural awareness. As part of her career, Kiera wishes to “expand communication between communities and cultures throughout the world and spread more awareness and ideas for conservation.”
We are honored and excited to award a scholarship to each of these deserving young people. They give us hope for the future of our world!
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