Published Aug 22, 2017 at 3:36 pm (Updated Aug 22, 2017 at 3:40 pm)
 

BZS-Steinhoff Scholarship winners Akinyi Apopa (left) and Amber Reid (right)
with Robert Steinhoff (Photograph supplied)

Akinyi Apopa and Amber Reid are the winners of the Bermuda Zoological Society’s Steinhoff Scholarship for 2017.

The students, who receive $5,000 each, were chosen for their outstanding scholastic achievement and community service, according to a press release from the BZS.

Ms Apopa is heading to the University of Edinburgh to pursue an MSc Outdoor Environmental and Sustainability Education.

She stated: “As a science teacher in Bermuda for the past five years, I have found ways to take my lessons out of the confines of the school buildings and into the outdoor world.

“But now it is time for me to grow. Undertaking this Masters course provides an opportunity for me to engage in theory and conduct research that will broaden my knowledge. My goal is to save the environment, one child at a time.”

Ms Reid is off to Northeastern University in Boston for her final years of a BS Environmental Sciences.

A volunteer with the BZS, Ms Reid helped the BZS education team to teach local youth about Bermuda’s oceans.

“The excitement and enjoyment that the students exhibited as they learnt more about the amazing life that our oceans hold, and how essential it is to protect it, was simply inspiring,” she stated.

“I would like to see conservationism ingrained into Bermuda’s culture and viewed as part of everyday life. The work that the BZS does for our community helped me to figure out my educational path in the field of Environmental Science.”

The scholarship was named after former BZS president Robert Steinhoff and was established for Bermudian students in the final two years of study for a Bachelor, Master Degree or Doctorate in the Environmental Sciences with an accredited institution.

Since its inception in 2009, 18 scholarships have been awarded, totalling more than $90,000.