Scholarship Recipients
WALPA Scholarship Award Winners
2025
Recipient: Ty Stephenson, Western Washington University Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Scholarship Project: Spatial and temporal trends in macroinvertebrate communities and water quality in aquatic ecosystems of the North Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Olympic National Park ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Brianna Decora, University of Idaho Award: $500 Graduate Scholarship Project: The development of a rapid assessment methodology for zooplankton assemblages in Idaho
2024
Recipient: John Buster, WSU – Tri Cities Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Scholarship (PhD Student) Project: The case of the missing N: the potential for denitrification and aquatic plant sinks in semi-arid basins. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Cara Gutenberg, Western Washington University Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Nitrogen retention in restored riparian buffers: impacts of stand age and nitrogen inputs ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Sasha Vinogradova, UW – Tacoma Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Using Lanthanum Modified Bentonite to Immobilize Arsenic in Lake Sediments.
2023
Recipient: Nicole Doran, University of Washington Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Preservation effects on stable isotope signatures of sixteen native and invasive freshwater fishes from lakes in the Pacific Northwest ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Madison Schumacher, University of Idaho Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Quantify the resuspension of total sediments, nutrients and metals in the nearshore zone of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho as a result of disturbances from natural waves and boat-generated wakes. Study sites also include the Spokane River ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Garret Homer, University of Idaho Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Effects of wake boats on the resuspension of sediment and associated nutrients in Payette Lake in central Idaho
2022
Recipient: Samantha Fung, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Short-term Patterns of Summer Arsenic Cycling in a Temperate, Polymictic Lake. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Tessa Code, M.S., University of Washington, Seattle Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Quantifying the effect of artificial light at night on the predation of juvenile sockeye and pelagic prey fish in an urbanized lake. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Heaven Denham and Hailey Germeau, University of Washington, Tacoma Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Impact of Dry Deposition of Nutirent Inputs to Spirit Lake, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (Dunham) and Quantifying the Impacts of New Zealand Mudsnail on the Ecology of Spirit Lake, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (Germeau).
2021
Recipient: Alexander Reyes, PhD, Washington State University, Vancouver Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Food web ecology study for an alkaline lake hosting Lahontan cutthroat trout in Omak, WA. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Rachel Fricke, M.S., University of Washington, Seattle Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Employing mobile data to assess human interactions with lakes. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Meg McCann, University of Washington, Tacoma Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Mapping the spread and ecological impacts of invasive New Zealand Mudsnails in Spirit Lake. ________________________________________________________ 2021 Special Group Award Recipient: Noah Bos, Allison Simmons and Alexandra Tyler, Walla Walla University Award: WALPA made a special award in recognition of the quality of their proposal and the team assembled to the do the research. Each will receive a $167 award. Project: Research study on Corbicula fluminea, an invasive clam, in Lake Ozette.
2020
Recipient: Katherine Swensen, PhD, Washington State University Vancouver Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Impacts of Wildfire Reburn Events on Water Storage and Transport in the Washington Cascades ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Salvador Robb-Chavez, M.S., Washington State University Vancouver Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Broadscale distribution, abundance, and habitat association of the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea in the lower Columbia River, USA ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Hana Haakenstad, B.S, University of Idaho Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Seasonal spatial distribution of zooplankton in Willow Creek Reservoir in relation to hypolimnetic anoxia.
2019
Recipient: Sarah H. Burnet, PhD, Natural Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Using whole-lake modeling to determine spatial relationships between sediment particle size, nutrient concentrations, wind-driven physical mixing, and algal blooms to identify ‘hot’ spots for in-lake treatment of internal nutrient loading, Willow Creek Reservoir (WCR), OR. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Kathryn E. Sweeney, M.S. Environmental Science, Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Washington State University Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Grazing impacts of rotifer zooplankton in a temperate, seasonally cyanobacteria dominated freshwater lake. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Beth Hoots, B.S, Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Idaho Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Examining arsenic transfer from water to periphyton and grazers in contaminated urban lakes.
2018
Recipient: Sofia D’Ambrosio, Washington State University Vancouver Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Exploring a novel potential link between algae blooms and methane emissions in lakes. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Rebekah Stiling, University of Washington Seattle Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: Contribution of littoral-benthic primary production to high elevation lake food webs. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Angelica Lucchetto, University of Washington Bothell Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Algal contributions to nitrogen flow in Spirit Lake.
2017
Recipient: Timothy Taylor, Washington State University Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship (Ph.D. Student) Project: Investigating non-lethal age estimation in a lentic brook trout population. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Michael Lawlor, Western Washington University Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship (Masters Student) Project: The use of algae as a biomonitoring tool in high-elevation lakes of the North Cascades. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Anna Shampain, University of Puget Sound Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: The effect of beaver dams on macroinvertebrate communities.
2016
Recipient: Vincent Ouellet Jobin, University of Washington Award: $1250 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Patterns, drivers and ecological implications of water-level fluctuations in lakes of Western Washington. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Zach Klein, University of Idaho Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship Project: Management of kokanee in Idaho lakes: kokanee population dynamics, Mysis-kokanee interactions, and sampling techniques. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Randi Bowman, Lewis-Clark State College Award: $500 Undergraduate Scholarship Project: Macroinvertebrates as bioindicators of stream health in the Snake River drainage.
2015
Recipient: Andrew Child, Washington State University Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Paleolimnological analysis of heavy metal contamination. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Michelle Bahnick, Western Washington University Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship Project: Comparing the Stream Function Assessment Methodology (SFAM) in Water Resource Inventory Area 8 (WRIA 8) on public lands to recent Status and Trends Monitoring data.
2014
Recipient: Megan Skinner, Washington State University Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Use of stable isotope analysis (SIA) to determine the influence of hypolimnetic oxygenation (HO) on fish diet. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Mark Sorel, University of Washington Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship Project: Reintroduction of anadromous salmonids in the Lewis River reservoirs.
2013
Recipient: Ben Cross Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Documenting the influence of lake hypolimnetic oxygenation on a cold water fishery ecosystem ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Ricardo Sanchez-Murillo Award: $1000 Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship Project: Understanding control and contributions to base flow in streams of eastern Washington and northern Idaho using stable isotopes
2012
Recipient: KathiJo Jankowski, University of Washington Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Stable isotope and genetic tools to link changes in nutrient sources and cycling along with changes in associated bacterial communities in more than 20 Washington lakes ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Adam Gebauer, Eastern Washington University Award: $750 Project: Research to determine the effects of reed canary grass on the hydrologic regime of low order streams in Washington by comparing systems dominated by reed canary grass and those with other riparian plants
2011
Recipient: Ellen Preece, Washington State University Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Accumulation of cyanobacteria toxins in species of fish consumed by humans. ________________________________________________________ Recipient: Chelsie Strowbridge, University of Washington Tacoma Award: $750 Project: Model nutrient sources and sinks for Spirit Lake at Mount St. Helens National Monument.
2010
Recipient: Bo Li of the University of Washington Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: The impact of advanced nutrient removal on phosphorus bioavailability. _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Carmen Welch of Western Washington University Award: $750 Project: The diet of the recently introduced redside shiners (Richardsonius balteatus) in Ross Lake, North Cascades National Park.
2009
Recipient: Mary Sutton Carruthers of Western Washington University Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: MarySutton Carruthers is currently working on her MS in Environmental Science at Western Washington University. Her thesis work is focused on examining the viability of using salmon analogs (dried fish pellets) as a replacement for salmon carcasses in streams where carcasses cannot be used due to insufficient supply or concerns over pathogens. Overall, this research compares nutrient movement and assimilation by periphyton, bryophytes, and leaf pack communities in streams treated with carcasses and with analogs. _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Timothy Caldwell of the University of Idaho Award: $750 Project: Timothy Caldwell is currently pursuing his MS of Fisheries Resources at the University of Idaho. His current research is focused on examining the role of the non-native opossum shrimp, Mysis relicta, in the nutrient dynamics of Lake Pend Oreille. The ultimate goal will be to make recommendations that will contribute to the restoration of the lake ecosystem.
2008
Recipient: Eric Larson of the University of Washington Award: $1000 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Invasive benthic invertebrates in WA lakes: Distribution, landscape scale habitat associations, and potential range expansion. _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Karoline Lambert of the University of Idaho Award: $750 Project: Development of a reliable, cheap, and comparatively rapid allelic discrimination assay to identify Eurasian and hybrid watermilfoil.
2007
Recipient: Kelley Turner of Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University Award: $750 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Differences in aquatic insect communities between glacial and non glacial lake outlets in the North Cascades _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Mel Johnson of the University of Idaho Award: $500 Project: Protecting corridor function; the role and influence of zoning and stakeholder education _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Brittany Wilmot of Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University Award: $500 Project: Elwha Dam removal project in Port Angeles; studying the lake, river and wildlife of the Elwha River Watershed
2006
Recipient: Karl Mueller of Western Washington University Award: $750 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Shelter competition between native signal crayfish and non-native red swamp crayfish _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Brooks Miner of the University of Washington Award: $500 Project: Study of the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in nature _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Elizabeth Seminet-Reneau of the University of Idaho Award: $500 Project: Lakewide impacts of residential shoreline development on large deep lakes
2005
Recipient: Joe Ravet of the University of Washington Award: $500 Nancy Weller Memorial Scholarship Project: Biochemical and Elemental Food Quality Limitations in Aquatic Food Webs _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Hans Berge of the University of Washington Award: $250 Project: Limnological Influences on Fish Distribution and Implications for Trophic Interactions in Lake Sammamish, Washington _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Sarah Spotts of the University of Washington Award: $250 Project: Research on Lake Chaplain drinking water filter clogging _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Jenny Newell of the University of Washington Award: $250 Project: Behavioral Patterns on Sockeye Salmon in Lake Washington _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Chris Goodman of Clover Park Technical College Award: $250 Project: South Prairie Creek TMDL Process
2004
Recipient: Tessa Francis of the University of Washington Award: $500 Project: Interface dynamics between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Ann Richter of Washington State University Award: $250 Project: Effectiveness of alum microfloc using enclosures at Newman Lake _________________________________________________________ Recipient: David Christensen of Washington State University Award: $500 Project: Interaction between fisheries management and water quality _________________________________________________________ Recipient: Rebecca Dugopolski of the University of Washington Award: $250 Project: Impacts of alum treatment on water quality of Green Lake