From Beltzville to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is one of the most diverse lands in America. Amish country fills half of the commonwealth with homemade pies, home grown fruits and vegetables and fresh picked flowers. Groundhogs dig tunnels through Philadelphia, Thousands of tadpoles fill lake Shohola, and the game lands spread over 1.5 million acres of our beautiful state. I intend to explore every inch of this complex ecosystem and Pennsylvania is the perfect place to start. I have always been an outdoorsy woman. I love to fish, hike, boat, camp; if it’s outside you can catch me there. When I read about the Chuck Swartz and Adam Swartz Memorial Scholarship and the prompt to apply I knew I was the perfect applicant. While I loved to read about Chuck and Adam and their drive to protect and enjoy the Pennsylvania waterways, I was saddened to discover their passings. My grandfather recently passed and he was an all around country boy who taught me how to fish before I was weaned off of the baby bottle. I find it so important to carry his legacy through the way I treat the environment and people. I have a deep appreciation for this country and all the waterways swerving throughout it. The Delaware River is a lifeline for many fish, macroinvertebrates, crustaceans, animals, and people. It provides drinking water for over 13 million people and is home to over 90 species of fish according to the Alliance for Watershed Education. This river is also a tourist location and a hotspot for tubing, rafting, kayaking, and all other kinds of water recreational activities. Due to its popularity, there has been a lot of garbage and litter surrounding the river. I have personally climbed down and walked along the shoreline of the Delaware River for multiple years now. I park on the side of route 33 just across the bridge to New Jersey and climb down the hill for a few hours and clean up the water. I do this task within my community as well. I have been walking along the lakes and roads in Penn Estates and cleaning out the water for many years now. Garbage is not beneficial to wildlife and most waste can be harmful to developing ecosystems within the watersheds. I have recently gotten a jon boat and have been going out as many times as I can with my electric trolling motors. Everytime I load and unload I spend about thirty minutes picking up fishing line, throwing out beer cans, and grabbing fast food wrappers. I get saddened with how people treat our waterways but I work hard everyday to relieve some of mother earth's battles by cleaning up the land and spreading positivity across the idea of conservation and recycling. I hope my passion for conservation is evident and I hope to carry on your father and son’s legacy in protecting, caring for, and enjoying Pennsylvania waterways. Thank you for your consideration and time. Prudence Slinkowski Future Microbiologist