University of Idaho Environmental Science Student and University Honors Program Member Earns Competitive Udall Scholarship

April 10, 2008

MOSCOW, Idaho – Lissa Firor, a junior in the University of Idaho environmental science program and member of the University Honors Program, was recently named a recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship. She is one of about 80 students nationwide chosen from more than 500 applicants.

Firor, from Cove, Ore., is the first recipient of the Udall scholarship from the University of Idaho since 2004. Her award amounts to a $5,000 grant to help pay for fees, books and supplies.

To earn the award, Firor wrote an essay on Morris Udall’s 1974 speech, “The Environment At Valley Forge,” and had to outline her past experiences in the field of environmental science, as well as illustrate her future in a career related to the environment, which she said includes earning a master’s degree.

“We are really excited to have Lissa win a 2008 Udall Scholarship,” said Maxine Dakins, interim director of the environmental science program at the University of Idaho and faculty representative for the Udall Scholarship. “She truly is a remarkable young woman with extremely high potential and with a demonstrated commitment to preserving and improving the environment.”

Firor’s 3.9 GPA also played a role in her earning the award, as well as her previous experience and leadership earned as the vice president of the environmental club, a member of the leadership team at the University of Idaho Sustainability Center, and a volunteer with the University of Idaho Women in Science Wetland Revitalization Project, along with many other student and conservation groups.

“Lissa is someone who we are confident will become an effective and impressive leader in the environmental area in the decades to come,” Dakins said.

Students are nominated for the award by their college or university. Each year, the Morris K. Udall Foundation awards 80 undergraduate scholarships to juniors and seniors in fields related to the environment and to Native American and Alaskan natives in fields related to health care or tribal policy.

Congress established the Udall Foundation in 1992 to honor the Arizona Democratic congressman’s 30 years of service in the House of Representatives. The foundation is “committed to educating a new generation of Americans to preserve and protect their national heritage through studies in the environment, Native American health and tribal policy, and effective public policy conflict.” Udall died in 1998.