The Office of Scholar Development has awarded six WKU students a total of $12,000 in Lifetime Experience Grants in the 2015-16 academic year.

The awards are designed to enhance students’ competitiveness for national scholarships by supporting research, creative activities, international study, student-designed service or other scholarly activities. As a condition of their awards, recipients of LTE grants apply for selected nationally competitive scholarships relevant to their interests and goals. The LTE grant program was initially funded by a grant from the WKU Sisterhood in 2012.

The 2015-16 awardees are:

• Autumn Turner, a graduate student in geoscience from Thayer, Missouri, who will conduct research on ecological impacts of acidification in Kentucky’s river basins.
• Anisha Tuladhar, a graduate student in geoscience from Kathmandu, Nepal, who will conduct research on glacial meltwater in Icelandic watersheds.
• Lily Nellans, an international affairs and philosophy major from Windsor Heights, Iowa, who will complete an internship with an NGO in Tuzla, Bosnia, teaching students practical skills to help prepare them for academic study, professional careers and roles as citizens in a secular multiethnic and democratic society.
• Helen Deborah Flynn, a geology major from Bowling Green, who will conduct research on subsurface permeability in Ethiopia.
• Jennifer King, a photojournalism and Spanish major from Bowling Green, who will conduct humanitarian and scientific photojournalism in Kenya.
• Jason Fox, a music and geography/environmental studies major from Russellville, who will complete a research internship on climate, tourism and music in Iceland.

“Our LTE program helps make meaningful experiences possible for ambitious students. Already, six of the 10 LTE grantees from 2014-15 have earned recognition as winners, alternates or honorable mentions in national scholarship competitions,” said Dr. Audra Jennings, Director of OSD.

For example, Jarred Johnson, a 2016 graduate in English and German, used his LTE to fund an internship with the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement in Washington, D.C., to explore his interests in the nexus between public policy and popular culture in coal-mining regions. This fall, he will begin a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in the Saarland, a former coal-producing state in Germany.

Alexis Corbin, a geography/environmental studies and Asian religions and cultures major, used her LTE to fund an internship on a permaculture farm and short-term course on food security in Taiwan. A member of the Chinese Flagship Program at WKU, she used the experience to enhance both her language skills and her understanding of the relationship between agriculture, the environment and communities in Taiwan. This spring, she received an Honorable Mention from the Udall Foundation, one of the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate national scholarship competitions focused on leadership and public service.

About the WKU Sisterhood: Chaired by Julie Ransdell and Kristen Miller, the WKU Sisterhood is an organization of women advancing WKU priorities through philanthropic engagement and a collective voice. Since 2010 the Sisterhood has held an annual competition for units and programs affiliated with WKU to receive up to $40,000 in funding for high-impact projects. The Office of Scholar Development’s LTE program was awarded the grant in Fall 2012.

About the Office of Scholar Development: The OSD works with students and their mentors to build research and creative agendas, helps students identify appropriate national and international scholarship opportunities, and provides intensive writing support throughout the application process. OSD staff welcome the opportunity to speak with students about nationally-competitive scholarships.

Contact: Melinda Grimsley-Smith, (270) 745-5043