In addition, the Club also has two endowed scholarships at Florida Gulf Coast University which continue to provide, each year, one undergraduate research scholarship and one graduate competitive research scholarship to students majoring in marine or environmental science. Club members are pleased and proud that their efforts enable the club to support such outstanding young adults who will hopefully be our future researchers, teachers and scientists. The Club’s endowment research scholarships were awarded to the following recipients:

Scholarship Recipients for the 2024-2025 Academic Year

The undergraduate endowment was awarded to Isabel Kacprowski, who is starting her fourth year, senior, at FGCU.  She has been working in the Marine Geochemistry Lab at FGCU for a year and a half.  Her research is centered around red tide and organic contaminants off the coast of southwest Florida.  She also volunteers and takes care of the marine invertebrate tanks at the Water School at FGCU.  She has her open-water certification for scuba diving and is currently getting her boating license. 

Isabel plans to continue getting her master’s in environmental sciences with a concentration in marine sciences.  She will start her master’s early when she monitors the water quality at the Water School’s artificial reef named Kimberly’s Reef.  She will stay in Florida afterwards to continue on monitoring water quality in marine environments and work for the state. 

Our graduate student endowment was awarded to Celina Ceballos.  Celina became interested in Gopher Tortoises when doing volunteer work at a nature center in New Jersey helping Diamondback Terrapins cross the roads during the nesting season.  She became interested in Gopher Tortoises and wrote a peer-reviewed publication.  She became interested in Sea Turtles at this time.  She is now attending graduate school at FGCU.  She works 2 jobs as a sea turtle technician, and a kayak tour guide. 

After she completes her master’s degree, she hopes to pursue a PhD or begin working within environmental government agencies, non-profits, or other industry jobs.  Her goal is to advance the preservation and understanding of endangered species, especially turtles, and ecosystems through research, education, and science communication.