Outdoor Writers Association of America Awards $15,000 in Bodie McDowell Scholarships

Six promising students of outdoor communications were awarded scholarships by the Outdoor Writers Association of America. The scholarships are named for Bodie McDowell, a past OWAA President, pictured above.

MISSOULA, Mont. – Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) recently awarded six Bodie McDowell Scholarships totaling $15,000 to students of outdoor communications, including print, photo, art and broadcasting. Bodie McDowell Scholarships recognize graduate and undergraduate students who excel in the area of outdoor communications.

“Mentoring the next generation of professional outdoor communicators is central to the OWAA mission, and the McDowell program is a vehicle through which our organization can reach and encourage aspiring college students,” said OWAA Education Committee Chair Jason Jenkins. “The Education Committee members delight in judging budding outdoor journalists, and we congratulate this year’s award recipients.”

Jenkins and other committee members who are located across the country reviewed applications, scored them based on predetermined criteria and selected winners. OWAA Endowment trustees distribute a calculated portion of the Bodie McDowell Scholarship Fund to college scholarship recipients each year. This year’s winners:

Graduate students:
1st place – Scott Theodore Bonertz, University of Nebraska – Lincoln (journalism)

2nd place – Jennifer Anne Walton, Colorado State University (environmental publications)

3rd place – Emily Elizabeth Voigt, The City University in New York (journalism)

Undergraduate students:
1st place – Brian Lehmann, University of Nebraska – Lincoln (photojournalism)

2nd place – John T. Jenkins, The University of Kansas (journalism/communications)

3rd place – Amber Marjorie Bushnell, University of Montana (journalism)

The Bodie McDowell Scholarship is named after longtime OWAA member Bodie McDowell, an OWAA past president and recipient of OWAA’s prestigious Ham Brown Award, an award recognizing members for devoted past service to the organization. McDowell, who retired as Outdoor Editor from the Greensboro News and Record and Public Information Officer for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, is a longtime advocate and fundraiser for the scholarship program.

The deadline for next year’s entries is March 15, 2007. For more information, visit www.owaa.org.