Two Students Honored with EPA Scholarship

by Rae McKee, Public Relations Writer – December 28, 2015

Two Cedarville students have been awarded scholarships from the Ohio EPA.

Two Cedarville University seniors have been awarded a $2500 scholarship from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their academic and extracurricular accomplishments. 

Andrea Martinson, a biology major from Springfield, Ohio, and Amiah Warder, an environmental science major from Sheridan, Wyoming, area among just 13 students from an Ohio college or university to be awarded the 2015 Ohio EPA Environmental scholarship.  

Their selection was based on academic accomplishments, recommendation letters, research and work in an environmental field, and essays detailing their career goals. The Ohio EPA designed the scholarship to support and encourage students who are interested in entering the environmental science career field after graduation. 

Martinson spent a semester in New Zealand through Cedarville’s study abroad program last spring at the Creation Care Study Program. 

She worked on terrestrial ecology and marine ecology projects, which included collecting data on the structure and function of the ecosystem in the Southern Alps. Her career goal is to work as an Interpretive Park Naturalist, who engages with the public at National Parks. 

“Cedarville enabled me to study abroad in New Zealand and it was a life-changing experience,” Martinson said. “That trip was definitely a contributor to getting the EPA scholarship, which contributed to this semester’s tuition. It has helped me discover what I am passionate about doing after I graduate.”  

Warder worked with Heather Kuruvilla, Ph.D., professor of biology, for her senior research project. The project is a study of pain signaling in the freshwater unicellular organism, Tetrahymena thermophile. The study used the data to determine how pain signaling may work in other organisms. Upon graduation, Warder desires to specialize in providing clean water. 

“Water is something that we take advantage of, but so many people don’t have access to it,” said Warder. “I think there’s no better way than to spread the gospel through providing clean water for those who don’t have it.”

Warder’s EPA scholarship will go directly to funding her final spring semester. 

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,711 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.