Udall Scholarships are awarded to two CU undergraduates

Two undergraduate students at Cornell, juniors Lara E. Douglas and Benjamin E. Wolfe, have been awarded scholarships for the 2002-03 academic year by the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation.

The Cornell-student winners of Udall Scholarships are among 80 students nationwide awarded from an applicant pool of 447. The award covers up to $5,000 in eligible expenses for the year for recipients, who will be juniors or seniors during the 2002-03 academic year. Another Cornell student, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences junior Peter Hosner, was given an honorable mention in the scholarship competition and will receive $350 for educational expenses.

The scholarships were authorized by Congress in 1992 to honor Morris K. "Mo" Udall (1922-98), the former U.S. representative from Arizona, and to commemorate his legacy of public service. Open to undergraduates in any field of study, the Udall Scholarships typically go to students majoring in the natural sciences, environmental engineering, natural resource management, government, the social sciences, health care or public policy, to help prepare them for careers in the fields of environmental public policy, health care or tribal public policy. In the past five years, Cornellians have garnered 15 Udall Scholarships -- a national record.

Originally from St. Louis, Douglas is a College Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences who majors in economics and the science of earth systems. She plans a career in environmental public policy with a government agency and says: "I hope to develop policies and programs in developing countries or the United States to prevent or alleviate the environmental decimation that frequently accompanies escalating industrialization and economic development."

Wolfe is from Dallas, Pa., and is majoring in natural resources at Cornell. He also won a Udall Scholarship for the 2001-02 academic year, as a sophomore, and reapplied and won again for 2002-03. His goal is to work in an organization or academic institution, "where I can act as a conduit between environmental science and the policy that can and should be guided by science," he said. "This position will not only allow me to attempt to strengthen the bridge between research and policy, but also foster a better connection between the masses of information and the general public affected by this information."

Also a natural resources major, Hosner is from Holly, Minn., and hopes to join the faculty of a major university, he said, "so that I can teach and conduct research in wildlife biology, environmental science and ornithology."

Students applying for the scholarship must be endorsed by Cornell to participate in the national competition. This year's endorsement committee consisted of Professors William Crepet, chair of the Department of Plant Biology, James Lassoie, chair of the Department of Natural Resources, William Rosen, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, and Beth Fiori, fellowship coordinator in the Cornell Career Services office. Students interested in applying for the Udall Scholarship should consult http://www.career.cornell.edu/students/grad/fellowships/udall.html and contact Fiori at btf1@cornell.edu or 255-6931. Faculty also are encouraged to suggest possible applicants to Fiori.