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.
