From a young age, my two favorite things have always been reading and the outdoors. I have always loved outdoor activities such as gardening and hiking because being in nature has always helped me focus and calm down. My love for nature fueled me to go to Northern Michigan University, where I will be continuing my pursuit of a major in Biology with a concentration in Ecology next fall as I start my senior year. As an avid reader, I have always been a frequent patron at my local library and started volunteering there during my freshman year of high school before I began working there during my junior year. I love working at the library because I feel like helping others and providing access to resources and information is incredibly fulfilling. In retrospect, I believe that this is also why I love ecology. It combines my love of being outside with feeling like I am making a positive impact on my community. I currently plan on going to graduate school after getting my bachelor's degree. My dream job is to become a freshwater ecologist and study the interactions between aquatic insects and their environments. I believe that I am a good candidate for this scholarship because I can make a positive impact on my community and environment through ecological monitoring and education. Monitoring freshwater insects can make a monumental impact because they are signals of the ecosystems within which they reside. By determining the species present in an area and their diets, I can determine whether the area has a high degree of sedimentation and how polluted an area is before changes may be noticeable further down the food chain. This can give humans more time to adapt our behavior at a localized level before those behaviors lead to issues such as loss of biodiversity, food insecurity, and water contamination. I plan to share the results of my studies to inspire those in my community to think about their own consumption habits and reduce their consumption of single-use plastics and fertilizers that can have an incredible impact on water quality and ecosystem health. Throughout my time working at my local library, I realized the importance of keeping knowledge and information accessible to all. I believe that sharing the knowledge I find through research and my studies with others in my community is crucial. Lasting positive changes can be enacted to improve ecosystem health, but those changes cannot happen if the public does not have access to the knowledge that supports the change. I know that personally, many of my family members have stopped using fertilizers and mowing frequently after I informed them how bad it was for insects in the environment. Because many people are not students or faculty at a university, many people don’t have access to up-to-date scientific articles and aren’t hearing firsthand from the professors studying these topics. It is up to students like me to share information and encourage others to share what they know in order to protect our environment and ensure a healthy environment is accessible to all. As I continue with my college experience and career, I will remain an advocate for inclusivity within the field of biology and encourage my peers to reach out to their communities to enact positive change.

As an undergraduate student majoring in Ecology with a focus on freshwater ecology, I understand the urgent need for sustainable practices to combat reductions in water quality and availability. Water quality is increasingly threatened by microplastic pollution as a result of consumerism and single-use plastics. Microplastic pollution affects all aspects of life. Microplastics in groundwater can reduce water uptake, reducing crop yields and food availability. Microplastic pollution in our waterways can lead to fatality or illness in aquatic insects and fish. Toxins in microplastics can also move up the food chain from fish to humans and make us sick, and fine microplastic particles can even enter drinking water through groundwater and wastewater treatment. I plan to finish my bachelor’s degree and then go on to graduate school in order to become a freshwater ecologist and study the interactions between aquatic insects and their environments. I do not want to see a world without the lovely diversity of freshwater life and fresh, clean water. Studies of freshwater ecosystems are vital for protecting our waters. Macroinvertebrates are signals of the ecosystems within which they reside, so by determining the species present in an area and their diets I can determine whether the area has a high degree of sedimentation and how polluted an area is before those changes may be noticeable through changes further down the food chain. This can give humans more time to adapt our behavior at a localized level before those behaviors lead to further biodiversity loss in our water bodies, food insecurity, and water contamination. I plan to use the results of my studies to inspire those in my community to think about their own consumption habits, and reduce their consumption of single-use plastics and fertilizers that can have an incredible impact on water quality and ecosystem health.