Three Linn County high school graduates have been awarded our 2021 LCSWA Robert Mealey Scholarships for studying forestry or forestry-related Natural Resources in an Oregon College/University, including Dual Enrollment with an Oregon Community College.
Money for the scholarships comes from the profits of the annual Linn County Small Woodlands seedling sale.
Kimberly Ortiz is a Scio High School graduate, now a senior at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, majoring in Rangeland Management Natural Resources and Ecosystems. She is receiving a $1,000 scholarship. She began her studies at Umpqua Community College and continued at LBCC and OSU before coming to EOU her junior year. With a laudatory 3.72 GPA, we look forward to her academic achievements and experiences this final year.
Along with her academic studies, Kimberly has enthusiastically worked and volunteered in woodlands and other natural resource projects with youth programs in the out-of-doors. She’s working this year in LaGrande as a student research intern with OSU’s Branch Experiment Station focusing on a study of drought resistant forage crops in Eastern Oregon. “Once I have my degree, I plan to move back to the Willamette Valley and be able to better the lives of others through volunteer work and managing natural resources and ecosystems.”
Madelyn Neuschwander is a Sweet Home High School graduate, now a junior at Oregon State University majoring in Forestry Ecosystems and Natural Resources. She is receiving a $2,000 renewable scholarship.
After working for Starker Forestry along with her classes last year, Madelyn is now employed as a Forest Management Intern with the Oregon State Research Forest (OSRF). She has worked on her White Oak restoration unit in the Jackson Creek area conducting log deck inspections and other quality control measures on active logging sites, discussed control details with contractors, covered slash piles for burning, and tariff cruised among other responsibilities.
In her free time, she has enjoyed hiking and camping in Oregon and, this summer, explored Washington’s Olympic and Mount Rainier National Forest. Madelyn is also a cherished coxswain on OSU’s Rowing Team.
An exceptional full-time student with a 3.64 GPA, Madelyn is studying a broad range of forestry science and issues. She is a treasured student and worker as revealed in her letters of recommendation.
Aria Mays is a 2021 graduate of Lebanon High School and a freshman at South Western Oregon Community College in Coos Bay. She is receiving a $2,000 renewable scholarship focusing on environmental studies and science leading to a Forestry major at an Oregon College/University with a dual enrollment next year.
She is recognized as a high achieving scholar with six AP classes, along with other advanced courses, induction into the Honor Society and an Honors Diploma. Aria also seriously competes in track and cross country.
Along with her scholastic and athletic accomplishments, Aria cherishes her ten-ay bike trip from Astoria to the California border during her 2018 summer with her cross-country coach and nine other students. After a long and rough first day of 40 miles, rewarded with an ice cream cone, she realized her confidence in completing the 416-mile trip in 10 days. “This trip shaped me into who I am and is truly my most astounding endeavor.”
