Virginia Tech student nets Udall Scholarship; another gets honorable mention

Hilary B. Camblos, of Clarksville, Va., a junior and a fisheries and wildlife sciences major in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, has won a prestigious Udall Scholarship, the eighth such award to a Virginia Tech student.

Lauren E. Hoffstetter, of Locust Grove, Va., a junior and a fisheries and wildlife sciences major in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, received honorable mention.

Udall Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit and are nominated by faculty. The Morris K. Udall Foundation awarded 80 scholarships for the 2004-2005 academic year to undergraduate sophomores and juniors. The one-year scholarship will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. In addition, Camblos will attend an all-expense-paid environmental conference in Arizona with other Udall Scholars and national environmental leaders in August.

Honorable mention recipients will receive $350 for educational expenses. The Foundation increased the number of honorable mention winners this year from 30 to 50 due to strong competition among applicants.

Scholarships are granted to students who demonstrate a commitment to the environment field as well as Native Americans and Alaska native students in fields related to health care and tribal public policy.

Camblos first became interested in the environment at an early age while an avid reader of Ranger Rick, a children's magazine, published by the National Wildlife Foundation. Since, she has traveled to Belize, Central America, to assist Marcella Kelly, assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife sciences in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, with a research projects estimating jaguar densities and identifying pumas using remotely triggered cameras.

She has received numerous scholarships, awards and honors including the Outstanding Sophomore Scholar Award, the Pamplin Leader Scholarship Award and the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. Other honors include: the Shelton H. Short Scholarship, the William and Mary Leadership Award, the Va. State Chapter of the P.E.O. Scholarship, and the Jean B. Duerr P.E.O. Sisterhood Scholarship.

She is involved in the Virginia Tech Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Xi Sigma Pi (the Forestry Honors Fraternity), and YMCA Student Programs.

She also has interned with the Residential Leadership Community at Virginia Tech, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

"Hilary is an amazing woman who makes a difference right now," said Barbara Cowles, associate director of University Honors. "She is doing cutting-edge research on jaguars and pumas. She was a superior student teaching assistant in the first year leadership program. Each week she leads a group of students at the campus YMCA on a hike where they explore nature from the perspective of Native Americans and the naturalists Tom Brown and Jon Young."

Hoffstetter wants to promote conservation and wise use of natural resources as a biology teacher to high school juniors and seniors and "reconnect urbanized teenagers with the land that supports them."

As a member of the Virginia Tech Wildlife Society's Education Committee, Hoffstetter goes into classrooms and conducts live presentations on ecology, bird ecology, and reptile biology. She also has interned with the Institute for Bird Populations and went to the University of Puerto Rico as an exchange student. She hopes to pursue her master's degree.

"Lauren is an honors student who has had a wide variety of experiences with wildlife ranging from fish to birds to reptiles," Cowles said. "Calm and graceful, she shares her love of animals with children in the local schools and with students here at Virginia Tech. Her lessons have a strong impact on her listeners."

Hoffstetter has received numerous scholarships, awards and honors including being a member of the Hillcrest Honors Community and winning several scholarships: the Alumni Presidential Scholarship, the Wildlife Society Excellence in Wildlife Stewardship Through Science and Education Scholarship, and the Waste Planning Institute Scholarship.

The College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top five programs of its kind in the nation. Faculty members stress both the technical and human elements of natural resources and instill in students a sense of stewardship and land-use ethics. Areas of studies include environmental resource management, fisheries and wildlife sciences, forestry, geospatial and environmental analysis, natural resource recreation, urban forestry, wood science and forest products, geography, and international development.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.