(Posted April 22, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Erin Satterthwaite, a sophomore studying biology from Santa Barbara, Calif., received the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. She is one of 100 undergraduates awarded the scholarship nationwide.

Satterthwaite, the daughter of Jim and Diane Satterthwaite, will receive $8,000 in scholarship funds for the next two years and receive a full-time paid internship worth $6,500 at NOAA in summer 2009. This summer she will attend a NOAA conference in Silver Spring, Md., to determine the research area for her internship.

Satterthwaite is interested in pursuing a research career in marine ecology and is currently studying abroad in the Brethren Colleges Abroad Program Marine Sciences and Development. She participated in two research projects while there, including an analysis of the nonmarketable fish "bycatch" in India's commercial fishing catch and a project focusing on salinity and species diversity in an estuarial system. The program takes students to various universities throughout India specializing in marine sciences. The program is sponsored by the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, based in Pondicherry, India.

This spring, Satterthwaite also received an honorable mention as a candidate for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. She has participated in research projects at Juniata, including a project monitoring energy use by freshwater shrimp. She will continue her work on that project this summer, working directly with Doug Glazier, professor of biology.

Satterthwaite also received the Burkholder Scholarship for Leadership from Juniata.

She remains active on campus, including a semester as sophomore class president, an office she relinquished when she went abroad. She also is a member of the Student Alumni Association, the Conservation Club, the Juniata Activities Board and Tri-Beta, the national biology honor society.

The Hollings scholarship program is designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research, technology, and education and foster multidisciplinary training opportunities, as well as increase public understanding and support for stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere. The agency also believes the scholarship will help recruit and prepare students for public service careers with NOAA and other natural resource and science agencies or as teachers and educators.


Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.