UH Manoa marine biology student awarded prestigious Morris K. Udall Scholarship

HONOLULU — Aja N.M. Reyes, a marine biology student at UH Mānoa, was recently awarded the prestigious 2005 Morris K. Udall Scholarship. The scholarship is named after the late U.S. congressman who served in the House of Representatives for three decades. Reyes is one of 80 scholars selected from a pool of 436 applicants from colleges and universities nationwide.

A native Chamoru from Guam, Reyes is deeply committed to the preservation and conservation of the fragile reef ecology surrounding her homeland. She believes that protecting and restoring natural resources is a way to strengthen the integrity of all cultures. Reyes will use the scholarship to continue her research related to coral reef and environmental management, and eventually seek a PhD in marine biology.

In 2004, Reyes was one of two recipients of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force‘s 1st Annual Governor Tause P.F. Sunia Memorial Coral Reef Conservation Summer Internship Award. During the internship, she worked in the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association‘s National Ocean Service Coral Reef Conservation Program. While there, she compiled informative local action strategies of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

About Morris K. Udall
Congressman Morris K. Udall was a distinguished leader committed to increasing the awareness of the nation‘s natural resources and the training of Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Blacks and Hispanics in the areas of health care, environmental science and tribal public policy. Among his most notable accomplishments was the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which doubled the size of the national park system, and tripled the size of the national wilderness system.

About the Scholarship
The Morris K. Udall Foundation awards 80 merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 annually to undergraduate sophomores and juniors who represent the goals and missions of the foundation. Udall Scholars represent broad academic interests, are involved in public service and indicate potential for making significant contributions to environmental, health and public policies.