Two graduates from the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi have received the National Marine Science Scholarship.
The NMSS was created by Shimano Fishing North America and the Coastal Conservation Association. This national award is meant to support marine fisheries graduate students while capitalizing on those students’ passion for sport fishing.
Winners this year were Lily Walker and Kelsey Gibson.
Walker is a South Dakota-born marine biologistwho is halfway through her graduate program at the Harte Research Institute.
She studies estuarine water quality and oxygen dynamics in South Texas. Her goal is to eventually work for an agency that can manage fisheries and help conservation for years to come.
When Walker is not gathering information in the field or working in the laboratory on her dissertation, she enjoys kayaking and wade fishing two to three times a week. She says the intimacy of being in the water is what she loves most about fishing.
Walker plans on graduating in May 2021, hoping to spread the knowledge of water quality in coastal waterways.
“I want to make a difference, and I want for future generations, and myself, to be able to keep on fishing and enjoy the outdoors,” she said.
Gibson, a graduate student with the Center for Sportfish and Conservation, also was a winner of a scholarship.
For more information about their honors, check out https://www.scienceofconservation.org/
