University of Maine Foundation

Catherine Kropp and Nicole Mercier   Links related to this story

Natural stewardship

University of Maine students Catherine Kropp and Nicole Mercier are most at home in the natural world. And that's where they plan to make a difference.

Kropp and Mercier are both majoring in forest ecosystem science. Kropp, a senior, also will receive a degree in wildlife ecology. Mercier, a junior, has an academic focus on conservation.

"I want to bring my love for Earth and my attitude toward the living world to the forest and its stewards," says Mercier. "All the money in the galaxy couldn't get me out of my tree."

For two consecutive years, Kropp and Mercier have received financial aid from the Abnaki Girl Scouts Sarah J. Medina Scholarship Fund in the University of Maine Foundation. The fund was established in 2004 with gifts from the Seven Island Land Co., and the colleagues and friends of Sarah J. Medina. Medina was one of a handful of women who graduated from the Forestry Program in the early 1970s. She has been involved with Girl Scouts for many years, including six years as council president.

The fund is earmarked for students majoring in forestry-related programs who, like Medina, have been committed to Girl Scouting, and are dedicated to the ideals of sustainable forest management and responsible stewardship of land.