Gustavus Adolphus College junior biology major Ethan Degner has been awarded a $50,000 Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunities (EPA GRO) Fellowship for Undergraduate Environmental Study. Degner was one of 30 fellowship recipients selected from throughout the nation.
Degner, a St. Peter native, has been involved with local conservation efforts, specifically related to Lake Hallett. In addition to his biology pursuits, he has performed as a student musician in one of the College orchestras, and he’s been selected to the Collegiate Fellow residential hall leadership program for the 2010-2011 school year.
The EPA awarded nearly $1.4 million in fellowships in this national competition. For Degner, this means during the next two years he will receive money toward tuition and fees, a monthly stipend, an expense allowance, and travel expenses to attend two professional conferences this year. Next summer he will serve as an EPA GRO Summer Intern and complete a summer project.
The goals of the prestigious EPA fellowship program are to bolster the environmental generation of tomorrow, provide a bridge to diverse communities, and boost excellent research and development that advances the protection of human health and the environment through education.
“This fellowship is exactly the sort of thing we had in mind when we created the Gustavus Fellowships Office a year ago,” says Alisa Rosenthal, Gustavus fellowships coordinator and associate professor of political science. “We’re making sure that students are informed about such opportunities and we are also identifying students who might be competitive for fellowship even if they are not thinking about them or aren’t aware of them.”
From the new fellowships office, Rosenthal and others also work with Gustavus students through the application process so they’re prepared to compete successfully.
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