CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students received recognition from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation for their commitment to the environment. Ethan Moore, of Plano, Texas, was among 55 students nationally selected as a Udall Scholar. Jenna Schaefer, of St. Joseph, Illinois, was named honorable mention for the prestigious award.
A national 20-member independent review committee selects Udall Scholars based on applicants’ commitment to careers in the environment, Native health care or tribal public policy; leadership potential; record of public service; and academic achievement. Scholars receive up to $7,000 toward educational expenses and attend a five-day conference in Tucson, Arizona, to learn more about public service and to interact with fellow scholars and community leaders in environmental fields, tribal health care and governance.
Honorable mentions are provided with ongoing networking opportunities available through the Udall award. Since being established by Congress in 1992, the Udall Foundation has awarded 1,843 scholarships totaling $9.4 million.
Ethan Moore
Moore, a graduate of Plano Senior High School, is a junior majoring in mechanical engineering as a James Scholar honors student in the Grainger College of Engineering. At Illinois, Moore is independently developing a low-cost autonomous surface vessel using machine learning to enable continuous dynamic mapping and prediction of water body quality parameters like pH, turbidity, salinity and dissolved oxygen. His work has garnered funding through the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Moore also founded WYSE DREAAM Robotics, an outreach program to inspire robotics interest in middle school students. “Ocean acidification, commercial overfishing and industrial pollution wreak havoc on the very waters harboring all life on Earth,” Moore said. “I aspire to tackle these challenges by proliferating robots across the world’s waters to collect data to assist policy enforcement, predict future states and disseminate treatments.”
Jenna Schaefer
Schaefer, a graduate of St. Joseph-Ogden High School, has completed her second year at Illinois, pursuing a major in agricultural and consumer economics with a focus in environmental economics and policy as a James Scholar honors student in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. As a member of the Zero Waste Illinois Climate Action Plan Team, Schaefer works with students, faculty members and staff to develop and advance zero-waste initiatives to meet the Illinois Climate Action Plan goals.
She also serves as the Illini lights-out intern at the campus Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment and volunteers with the organization Project for Less, packaging excess dining hall food for donation to combat both food insecurity and food waste. In the future, Schaefer said she plans to work as a zero-waste coordinator promoting environmental sustainability through responsible procurement of goods, reduction of waste sent to landfills and education about the impact of waste on the environment.
“The University of Illinois has had a combined 11 Udall Scholars and honorable mentions in the past decade, a true testament to the ongoing opportunities for environmental engagement on our campus and in our community,” said David Schug, the director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “It is great to see these students’ work pay off in such a tangible way.”
Editor’s note: For more information, contact David Schug, National and International Scholarships Program director, 217-333-4710; topscholars@illinois.edu
