“Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge has awarded $33,200 in conservation education scholarships to 15 students from the surrounding five-county area. During its 19-year history, the DDWS Environmental Scholarship Program has awarded a total of $295,600 to deserving students.
“The society is committed to educating today’s youth to become future conservation stewards,” said DDWS Education Committee Chair Nancy Felker. “We partner with businesses, families, and individuals to provide annual scholarships to award to outstanding students pursuing degrees related to conservation, wildlife biology, environmental engineering, policy, and science.”
Of the 15 scholarships, three are permanently endowed. Individuals passionate about helping students make a difference in all areas of conservation donate the other scholarships on an annual basis.
The Richard Bailey Scholarship, named in memory of a longtime refuge volunteer and donated by his family, went to Alaynna Harms, a graduate of Lemon Bay High School in Englewood. She pursues a major in bioengineering at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers.
The Mike & Terry Baldwin Scholarship, named for a DDWS past president and his wife, an emeritus board member, went to Isabella Moon, a graduate from Cypress Lake High in Fort Myers who is heading to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to study biological science.
William Sobczak, a Barron Collier High (Naples) alumnus and environmental engineering and computer science student at the University in Florida (UF), Gainesville, received the Dr. Andrew and Laura Dahlem Scholarship. The Dahlems live part-time on Sanibel Island; their family honors them with a named scholarship.
Audrey Albrecht, a Rhode Island University alumnus and former SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation) shorebird biologist, pursues a master’s degree at Unity Environmental University in Thorndike, Maine, studying geographic information systems (GIS). She received the Dr. H. Randall Deming Endowed Scholarship for Conservation & Environmental Studies. Deming’s family established the scholarship in 2016 as a permanently endowed scholarship in his memory.
The DDWS Award of Excellence Scholarship, presented to a student showing outstanding promise in the field of environmental science, went to Nathaniel Lawson, a recent graduate of Cape Coral High School with plans to attend FGCU this fall majoring in environmental engineering.
Haven Mena recently graduated from Cape Coral High and will study environmental engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. She accepted the “Ding” Darling Conservation Scholarship, made possible by an anonymous donor.
Two Leslie & Hans Fleischner Scholarships went to Izabella Smolnicka-Dos Santos, a graduate of Florida SouthWestern State College (Fort Myers) studying environmental systems engineering at Stanford University in California; and Alexandra Polk, an alumnus of Fort Myers High. She graduated from the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, where she will pursue a post-graduate degree in the fields of environmental education and marine life. The Fleischners were parttime Sanibel residents whose love of the island’s environment has inspired them to sponsor the scholarships for several years.
Mallory Poff, an alumnus of Barron Collier High and Elon University in North Carolina, pursues her master’s degree in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University in North Carolina. She received the Mary Elaine Jacobson Memorial Scholarship, made possible by the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society.
The Kent and Sharon Jager Scholarship went to Sharon Swiersz, graduated from Southwest Florida Christian Academy in Southwest Ranches, Fla., and UF and is pursuing a master’s degree at UF in interdisciplinary studies, where she is researching community engagement in Everglades watershed policy. The Jagers, Illinois residents, have been fans of Sanibel Island and “Ding” Darling for decades.
Established as a permanently endowed scholarship by the estate of longtime DDWS board and Education Committee member and her husband, the Win and Marilyn Kloosterman Memorial Scholarship went to Cole Beiner, a Port Charlotte High graduate. He will study environmental engineering at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Victoria Gonzalez — a graduate of the TERRA Environmental Research Institute in Miami and a current student at the USF majoring in environmental science and policy with a concentration in sustainability and a minor in urban studies — received the Barry & Francine Litofsky Scholarship, in memory of two former refuge volunteers made possible by their children.
The Tarpon Bay Explorers Scholarship went to Kylee Lange, who graduated from North Fort Myers High and will attend Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where she will pursue a degree in environmental engineering. Tarpon Bay Explorers, “Ding” Darling’s recreation concession, started the original DDWS scholarship program in 2006.
Two Jane Werner Endowed Environmental Scholarships, established in 2011 as DDWS’ first permanently endowed scholarship fund, went to Tori Guarino, a graduate of Golden Gate High in Naples and FGCU, who pursues a doctoral degree in environmental horticulture at UF; and Carter Eleckna, who graduated from Imagine High School in North Port, Fla., and FGCU and has been accepted into the doctoral program at UF to study seagrass ecology. The late Jane Werner, who volunteered at the refuge for 25 years, established the permanent scholarship fund prior to her death.
“These students become part of the greater ‘Ding’ Darling family,” said Felker. “It is wonderful to see what they are accomplishing through their studies and their enthusiasm for making a real difference in conservation. We welcome them back as scholarship applicants next year and as fellow conservation stewards in years to come.”
DDWS again will be awarding scholarships starting at $1,000 each at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. High school seniors and college students from Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades, and Hendry counties pursuing careers in biology, conservation, and environmental studies are eligible.
For an application and to read full descriptions of 2024 scholarship winners and donors, visit dingdarlingsociety.org/student-scholarships.
Individuals and businesses interested in establishing a named scholarship of $1,000 or more, or about general endowments in support of the work at the refuge, should contact DDWS Executive Director Ann-Marie Wildman at 239-789-8991.