Colorado State University Students Selected as Udall Scholars

Johanna Hamburger, a political science and economics double major, and Caitlin Powell, a construction management major with a business administration minor, have been selected as recipients for the prestigious Morris K. Udall Scholarship Program.

The Udall Scholarship awards up to $5,000 to future leaders across a wide spectrum of environmental fields, including policy, engineering, science, education, urban planning and renewal, business, health, justice and economics. The Foundation also provides scholarships to Native American or Alaska Native students pursuing careers related to the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care. Students must be college sophomores or juniors at the time of selection.

"This is very exciting news, as these two students are the first Udall Scholars in the history of Colorado State University," said Heather Esterday, coordinator of Colorado State’s Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarship Programs.

The Foundation awarded 80 scholarships for the 2008 – 2009 school year.

After graduation, Hamburger plans to pursue dual law and master’s degrees in environmental studies and hopes to practice environmental law. Hamburger, a junior from Greenwood Village, Colo., is the founder of the Colorado State Mock Trial Team and co-editor of the Honors Program Literary Magazine.

Hamburger participates in activities to protect the environment. She conducts research in Colorado State’s Restoration Ecology lab to find a shrub species that can tolerate high zinc concentrations for use in the restoration of mining sites. She also has worked as an intern with Forest Guardians to list the black-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act.  

Powell, a junior from Minnetonka, Minn., plans to pursue a master’s of design science in sustainable design. Powell participates in several sustainable and green building organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair, and is the president of the Emerging Green Builders of Northern Colorado.

Powell competed on Colorado State’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) student competition team, taking second in the nation, and has passed the LEED professional exam – a feat for seasoned professionals. Powell also works with The National Center for Craftsmanship on "DeConstruct."  The project involves dismantling and recycling three homes; it also trains people to become skilled craftsmen while minimizing the amount of waste in landfills.

Since 1992, the Morris K. Udall Scholarship program has awarded more than 1,200 students. For more information about the Udall Scholarship, go to www.udall.gov.

-30-