Staff Writer
@KelseyMadeline
When Salisbury University junior Breck Sullivan found that she had been awarded the Environmental Protection Agency Greater Research Opportunity fellowship, a large academic scholarship that couples as an opportunity to work in the field, she was overwhelmed.
“I never dreamed of having an opportunity like this,” Sullivan said. “Honestly I’m still in shock a little bit.”
This fellowship opportunity, worth up to $50,000, is awarded to 34 students nation-wide each year. It provides students, like Sullivan, with funding for their junior and senior year of college and a stipend for books.
It will also allow her to work alongside EPA officials in a paid internship position during the summer of 2015, where she hopes to gain experience that will assist her in narrowing the field of research she hopes to go into after graduation.
“The beauty of environmental studies is that there are so many options, so many things that you can study,” Sullivan said. “I hope this helps me narrow down what it is I want to do.”
As an intern for the EPA, Sullivan is eager to have the opportunity to study coastal systems with a focus on pollution impacts on the Chesapeake Bay. She is also excited for the opportunity to incorporate her love for mathematics into her research.
Growing up in Salisbury, Sullivan owes her interest in the environment to the diverse landscape that has surrounded her for her entire life.
“Every aspect of the environment has affected me,” Sullivan said. “The Bay is close by, the ocean is only 30 minutes away and we are surrounded by agriculture in Salisbury. The environment is always in the back of my mind.”
Sullivan is the sixth Salisbury University student to be awarded this fellowship in the last five years, making SU one of the top universities for EPA fellowship opportunities.
She feels that this honor for such a young department speaks volumes of the SU faculty members.
“It shows so much to the strength of the professors in the environmental studies department,” Sullivan said. “They care so much about what the students are interested in.”
While she has always cared for the natural world, Sullivan feels that majoring in environmental studies has made her more aware of the responsibility people have in protecting the world they live in.
For environmental studies students considering applying for an EPA GRO fellowship Sullivan recommends focusing on your academics, and staying true to the things that you care about. She believes that being honest in what you want your passion will show.
“Now when I go to the beach I don’t just go to look at it, I realize that it’s important to restore it and take care of it,” she said.