New scholarship fund for students from coastal communities

An endowed scholarship fund established by a group of alumni will support undergraduate students from working coastal and fishing communities in the region, with the first awards to be made for fall 2026 entry.

The fund's donors, who asked not to be named individually, described the aim as addressing a specific gap. Students from the communities the university studies most closely are consistently underrepresented among applicants, and the reasons are practical rather than academic.

Grace Adeyemi, whose research is on adjustment in resource-dependent coastal economies, said the pattern is familiar from her fieldwork. "The barriers people face in these communities are almost always financial and structural rather than about ability or interest. That is true of leaving a fishery and it is true of applying to a university."

Awards will be made on a combination of financial need and connection to a coastal community, and will be renewable across four years. Recipients will also be offered a summer placement, either at the field station or through the hatchery partnership.

Details on eligibility and how to apply are available from the admissions office. Rosa Delgado's office is handling applications and can answer questions about how the award interacts with other financial aid.