Touching Lives
By Laura Long, FHL Advancement Board
Upon occasion we have the privilege of ever so gently helping someone toward their life goals. The Adopt-A-Student Program donations that offset student costs of attending classes at FHL do just that. When we enable a student to attend FHL programs, we know that our dollars are being leveraged into inspiring experiences for bright students from around the globe.
On August 21st, Rachel Anderson introduced Kevin Schofield and me to our "adoptees", Maya Groner and Peter Crockett. We had a relaxed conversation over lunch while enjoying the sun on the dining hall deck. It was especially interesting to find out about Maya's and Peter's journeys taking them to FHL and to ask what they see for themselves in the future.
Maya Groner, who grew up in Virginia, is a postdoc performing research at the Atlantic Veterinary College of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Before taking her position at UPEI, Maya lived in Bellingham for a while and heard enough about the Labs that she wanted to take a FHL course whenever an opportunity presented itself. The funding for her salary at UPEI has budget for continuing education enabling her to come with added support from the FHL Adopt-A-Student program. She took the Ecology of Infectious Marine Disease FHL course this summer (see NSF Sponsored Ecology of Infectious Marine Disease Course article). This class was taught by Dr. Drew Harvell, Cornell University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Dr. Steven Roberts, University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, and Dr. Carolyn Friedman, University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. Maya studied a pathogen affecting eelgrass and aspects of ocean acidification in this class.
Peter Crockett is earning his Masters of Philosophy-Marine Botany degree at the University of Melbourne. He took the Marine Algae course and at the time of our lunch, had just returned from a class visit to the waters at Port Renfrew on the southwestern side of Vancouver Island. This course was taught by Dr. Thomas F. Mumford, Marine Agronomics, Washington Department of Natural Resources (ret.), Div. of Aquatic Resources and Dr. J. Robert Waaland, University of Washington Biology Department. Peter observed that algae and everything else in our waters seems larger than those found in Australian waters, but their sharks seem larger to us! Peter loves Melbourne but also enjoys visiting the United States. He and his brother were planning to kayak our northwest waters after class ended. Both Peter and Maya are holding their options open for the future. They are in that wonderful phase of life where there are many interesting and challenging career path options.
You also can touch a life by contributing to the Adopt-A-Student program. FHL welcomes participation at many levels.
• A full scholarship covering tuition, supplies, room and board and travel is $5,000/student
• A partial scholarship of $1,000 or more adopts one or part of one student
• A donation of any size to this program, including air miles for transportation, is needed and will be very welcom3
When you provide a full or partial scholarship, you have the opportunity to meet your adoptee. If you are on island, Rachel introduces yo1.1 to your adoptee over lunch in the dining hall. If you are not on island, the student writes to you describing their interests and coursework. In either case, your life is enriched by this relationship. Bringing a bright student to FHL is always inspirational and can be life-changing experience for them. You can make this happen with your generosity. Contact Rachel Anderson at 360-378-2165, Ext. 2 or make an online donation.