Environmental Studies Major Jeffery Sullivan Earns $5,000 Udall Foundation Scholarship

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Washington College student Jeffery D. Sullivan, class of 2014, has been awarded an Undergraduate Scholarship from the Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. Sullivan was named one of just 80 recipients of the $5,000 prize, which is awarded annually to students committed to careers related to the environment or Native American affairs. An added perk to the scholarship will be the opportunity for Sullivan to meet elected officials and environmental and Native American tribal leaders at the four-day Udall Scholars Orientation in Tucson, Arizona this coming August.

Sullivan’s interest in the environment is what led him to choose Washington College after graduating from Lake Forest High School in Felton, Delaware. An environmental studies major, he participated in the College’s unique Chesapeake Semester program (http://chesapeake-semester.washcoll.edu/) in the fall of 2011. The program combines fieldwork, intensive study and outdoor adventure throughout the 64,000 square mile watershed of the Bay and ends with a journey to Peru to compare the cultural, economic and political forces at work in each region.

“The Chesapeake Semester was an incredible experience, better even than I hoped it would be,” Sullivan says. “It brings together a lot of aspects of environmental work that are often disconnected, bringing all the stakeholders together to look at the issues that affect the health of the Bay.”

Sullivan, the Finn M. W. Caspersen Scholar, is involved in a wide range of campus activities. He came to the College as a Presidential Fellow and is now a member of the Cater Society. In his freshman year, he became a parliamentarian for the Student Government Association, and he will be a Residential Advisor for the Presidential Fellows in Kent House for the 2012-2013 academic year.

As a member of the Student Environmental Alliance, he recently teamed up with a fellow student to start a Bike Share program on campus. This summer, he will intern in the College’s Chester River Field Research Center at Chino Farms, where he will band migratory birds and conduct research on songbirds.

The Udall Scholarship will significantly benefit Sullivan and his career goals. “I am very pleased to receive this scholarship, not only for the recognition and the financial assistance, but also for the opportunity the conference will bring,” he says. “I’ll be able to explore environmental careers and network with legislators and EPA officials, as well as with other students interested in environmental studies.”

The Udall Scholarship Foundation was created in 1992 to honor Congressman Morris K. Udall and his brother Stewart and their legacy of public service. The foundation awards roughly 80 scholarships of up to $5,000 and 50 honorable mentions of $350 to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in environmental public policy and to Native American and Alaska Native undergraduate students who intend to pursue careers in health care and tribal public policy.