The winners of the 2019 Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarships have been announced!
The Evan R. Liblit Graduate Scholarship is a supplement to any form of financial aid, and is given to a promising graduate student demonstrating excellence in academic achievement and undertaking a marine, terrestrial, groundwater, atmospheric pollution-related or waste management research topic. All full-time School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and College of Engineering and Applied Sciences graduate students whose advisors are affiliated with SoMAS are eligible. John Bohorquez is the recipient of the Liblit Graduate Scholarship ($4,000).
The Evan R. Liblit Memorial Undergraduate Scholarships are given to two promising undergraduates who are enrolled as full-time U3 or U4 (graduation not before Spring 2020) environmental studies majors, marine sciences majors, coastal environmental studies majors, sustainability studies majors with science emphasis, or science/engineering majors with an environmental studies minor (or at least 12 credit hours of environmental studies courses) or an emphasis in waste management.
Awards are given for the following categories:
- Outstanding academic accomplishments in the environmental sciences including waste management.
- Novel, practical ideas or implementation of practices prompting a sustainable environment including but not limited to the field of waste management.
Laura Osa and Kyle Walter have won the Liblit Undergraduate Scholarships ($1,500 each).
The winners were selected on the basis of their academic and societal accomplishments and interviews with members of the Liblit Memorial Scholarship Steering Committee.
John Bohorquez, Ph.D. candidate, SoMAS. Advisors: Ellen Pikitch and Anthony Dvarskas.
John blends a background of finance and economics with marine science and conservation, with a particular focus on the economics and financing of marine protected areas. He is using both remote and case study-based research toward developing a replicable tool to analyze financial risk and potential alternative strategies for marine protected areas, the majority of which have insufficient funds to be effectively managed and enforced. He is also working on a project assessing marine protected areas in China, and evaluating other ecosystem services such as shellfish abundance in Long Island Sound.
Laura Osa, Sustainability Studies. Advisor: Donna Selch.
Laura leads the Water Bottle Station Project (WBSP) consisting of monthly data collections that analyze the usage, functionality, and environmental impact of the Elkay EZH20 water bottle stations at Stony Brook University. Laura and her colleagues collect data for specific stations to determine the filter status, the amount of plastic water bottles saved, and other station issues. By sharing this information with SBU maintenance, they are improving efficiency, reducing costs, diminishing waste, and observing social trends for stations over time.
Kyle Walter, Coastal Environmental Sciences. Advisor: Maria Brown.
Kyle volunteers as a lead aquatic invasive species steward, whose job is to spread awareness of invasive species throughout New York State. Invasive species have a huge, but relatively silent, impact on the ecosystem. Unfortunately, invasive species receive little publicity but due to Kyle’s efforts, change is in the air.
The students will be guests at the annual Liblit Memorial Scholarship Awards Breakfast on Wednesday, November 13 at the Irish Coffee Pub in East Islip.
Congratulations to all three students!!
