The Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation has named four Indigenous American students, from federally recognised tribes, as recipients of this year’s scholarship funding.
© Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation
Established to honour the memory of the late Kurt Grinnell – a Native American leader and pioneering aquaculturist from Washington State’s Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe – the Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation (KGASF) provides financial assistance to Tribal and First Nations students who wish to pursue careers in aquaculture and natural resources.
The Foundation has named two new scholarship recipients, Gwendolyn Aaberg and Jaycee Williford, whilst also renewing scholarships for two previous recipients, Allison Carl and Alana Schofield.
Aaberg, who hails from Nondalton, Alaska, is a member of the Nondalton Tribe near Bristol Bay, and currently attends the University of Alaska Southeast in Sitka, where she is pursuing a degree in applied fisheries.
“Gwendolyn impressed us with her interest in all aspects of aquaculture and mariculture and brings to her studies years of experience fishing for salmon in Bristol Bay,” said John Dentler, executive director of the Foundation, in a press release.
Williford, from Sammamish, Washington, is a member of the Chickasaw Tribe and is a first-year student at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science. Growing up near Lake Sammamish, Williford was impressed by Tribal efforts to restore the lake’s native Kokanee salmon, which inspired him to pursue aquaculture as a path towards salmon restoration.
Allison Carl of the Chugach Alaska Corporation and Native Village of Eyak, is pursuing an M.S. degree in biological sciences at the University of Alaska. She has a strong interest and experience in marine resources including mariculture and is also a lab manager at the Chugach Regional Resources Commission Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute.
Alana Schofield, of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan, is a junior at Lake Superior State University and is pursuing a degree in fisheries and wildlife science. Schofield’s goal is to work with freshwater and marine tribal agencies regarding natural resources and cultural food sovereignty, with the long-term ambition to earn her Ph.D. degree.
“It is exciting to see how much this award has meant to past recipients, and we are looking forward to reaching more Indigenous students in both the USA and Canada. On behalf of the Kurt Grinnell family and the KGASF Scholarship Selection Committee, as well as our Board of Directors, we congratulate all the new scholarship awardees. We are confident that each of these students will make a substantial and positive impact to Tribal and First Nation welfare through their contributions to aquaculture and natural resource science,” concluded Jaiden Bosick, one of Kurt Grinnell’s two daughters, and Chairperson of the KGASF Board.
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