Colman Welles ’20, chemistry major, recently earned the Earnest F. Hollings Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Only 120 undergraduate students per year receive tuition support and paid summer internships with NOAA across the county in this highly competitive program.
The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid internship at a NOAA facility during the summer. Welles internship will take place during summer 2019.
According to Welles, “A NOAA mentor and I will choose an internship to be carried out at one of their labs nationwide. My general idea is to use chemical oceanography to explain trends in marine life. As a commercial fisherman eventually I want to relate this back to fishery management. The internship is oriented to finish a specific project, the results of which I will present at the annual conference.”
According to NOAA, awards also include travel funds to attend the annual Science & Education Symposium, scientific conferences where students present their research, and a housing subsidy.
The scholarship program is designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research, technology, and education and foster multidisciplinary training opportunities; as well as recruit and prepare students for public service careers with NOAA and other natural resource and science agencies, and for careers as teachers and educators in oceanic and atmospheric science.