Jan. 30, 2003 – The Friends of the V.I. National Park is offering two scholarships this spring to students pursuing careers in natural resources management or protection and majoring in fields such as marine biology, botany, ecology or forestry. The awards are for students going into their junior or senior year at an accredited college or university.
"The Friends scholarship program has become a very important piece of our environmental education mandate," Joe Kessler, the not-for-profit organization's president, said.
The $1,000 scholarships will be disbursed as $500 per semester.
Scholarship recipients also will be offered the chance to serve as interns with the Friends during the summer before their junior or senior year.
To be eligible for the awards, students must be Virgin Islands residents and have completed high school in the Virgin Islands. They must hold a B or 3.0 average through the first three semesters of college for sophomore applicants and through the first five semesters for junior applicants. And they must have completed all prerequisite coursework for majors in appropriate fields.
Applications are due March 31. The application forms are available by writing to the Friends at PO Box 811 Cruz Bay, St. John VI 00831 and may be picked up at the University of the Virgin Islands Financial Aid Office.
Kim Lyons, Friends development director, said that last year, when the scholarship program began, one award was available and applicants were limited to Virgin Islands students at UVI. The progam has now been opened up to V.I. students at any applicable college, with two awards to be given.
The first scholarship went to Leia LaPlace, a St. Croix student majoring in marine biology at UVI.
For more information about the program, call Lyons at 779-4940.
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