The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Alumni and Friends Association has awarded four students with 2015–2016 scholarships.
Keala Cowell and Joanna Norton each received $2,000 and Joyce Lilly and Chelsea Sato were awarded $1,000 to be applied toward their education at UH Hilo.
Keala Cowell
Cowell graduated from Pāhala High School and is seeking a bachelor of science degree in agriculture in the pre-veterinary track at UH Hilo. She plans on applying to Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences next fall. She was involved with the Student Union and served as senator of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and and Natural Resources Management for the UH Hilo Student Association.
Joanna Norton
Norton graduated from UH Hilo with a bachelor of arts in biology and will be entering the tropical conservation biology and environmental science master’s degree program this fall. She has been working since last spring as a research technician under Professor Rebecca Ostertag, experimenting with the restoration of hybrid forests with native and non-invasive species.
Joyce Lilly
Inspired by the statement, he aliʻi ka ʻāina (this land is your chief), Lilly is pursuing a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies and a bachelor of science in agriculture with a tropical horticulture specialty. She plans to build a career in environmental conservation.
Chelsea Sato
A graduate of Waiakea High School, Sato is working on a double major in chemistry and mathematics. She participated in the Global Education and Exchange program by studying in South Korea for a year, and assisted students from South Korea and Palau through the International Buddy Program.
UH Hilo Alumni and Friends Association
The UH Hilo Alumni and Friends Association organizes two signature events annually to fund these scholarships—the Alumni Scholarship Golf Tournament, to be held at the Waikoloa Beach Resort on Saturday, October 24, 2015, and the Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards Banquet, to be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
Thirty-six alumni scholarships have been awarded to UH Hilo students in the past decade.