Three OU students awarded Ohio EPA scholarships
Ohio University senior chemistry and psychology major Krystyna Chisholm works in an OU lab. She was one of three OU students recently awarded scholarships from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Photo by Kelly Doran, CG News.
By Kelly Doran, CG News
Three Ohio University seniors were recently awarded $3,350 environmental science and engineering scholarships from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Gabriel Andrews, Krystyna Chisholm and Nicholas Van Horn each won one of the 16 EPA scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Ohio Environmental Education Fund provided the scholarships to encourage Ohio students to pursue environmental careers.
Applicants were required to have an overall GPA of at least 3.0, recommendations from education and environmental professionals and a major in environmental science or environmental engineering. They also had to make some contribution to their fields.
Andrews, a biological sciences major, is working toward an environmental studies certificate. He is currently in New Zealand studying abroad. He got news of the scholarship after he left on his trip.
“It was an amazing feeling of success all the way on the other side of the world,” Andrews said.
Andrews has been involved with the National Wildlife Federation and the World Wildlife Federation. He has also organized recycling collections at OU and in his hometown.
Andrews also spent three months in the summer of 2009 working at the Diamondback Terrapin Conservation in Maryland.
Chisholm, a chemistry and psychology major, is involved in Alpha Chi Sigma, a fraternity for chemistry majors. She works with metal compounds to understand how light interacts with chemicals. She said the work might help lead to more efficient solar panels.
Chisholm credited doing research with her success in getting many of the scholarships she applied for. Researching has also helped her learned about her field.
“Research has been the biggest thing in my undergraduate career. Period,” Chisholm said.
Van Horn, a chemical engineering major, heard about the EPA scholarships a week before the application due date.
“I was just shooting out there,” he said.
Van Horn competed in a national science competition sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has been an active member of the Sierra Club.
Van Horn is using the scholarship money to help pay for his senior year tuition at OU.
