Apply for NRA’s $5,000 Women’s Conservation Scholarship by Nov. 1

Over a decade ago, the NRA Women’s Policies Committee wanted to encourage young women to pursue wildlife management and conservation majors in college and established the NRA Women’s Wildlife Management/Conservation Scholarship that is awarded annually in the amount of $5,000. Applications for the 2019 scholarship are now available and will be accepted through Nov. 1, 2018.

The NRA scholarship is open to women who are currently enrolled as college juniors or seniors majoring in a wildlife management or conservation program and who maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Interested applicants are encouraged to complete the online application.

In sharing the positive impact of the NRA Women’s Wildlife Management/Conservation Scholarship, 2018 recipient Emily Tripp is now a senior at Unity College in Unity, Maine, where she is majoring in Conservation Law Enforcement. Her goal is to become a game warden, which she got closer to attaining this past summer, working as a deputy game warden for the Maine Warden Service. Emily recently wrote to the NRA and shared the following:

I wanted to give you an update about how much has happened since I was awarded the NRA Women's Wildlife Management and Conservation Scholarship. My summer is ending shortly and I will be headed back to Unity College at the end of August. I will be going into my senior year. I have worked as a deputy game warden for the Maine Warden Service this summer in southern Maine. My district has been Sebago Lake, the second biggest lake in the state of Maine. I'm the only deputy assigned to the lake. I patrol in a 22 ft. Boston Whaler with a 250 Yamaha. The lake can get quite dangerous and reaches nearly 400 ft. deep. 

So far I have caught people for fishing without a fishing license, criminal trespass, operating at greater than headway speed, and many other safety [violations]. I also have helped educate the public and kids about boating safety and responsible wildlife management. I have been able to help people understand why the fishing laws we have help manage our fish populations best. I volunteered at a camp called Camp Postcard where kids who have had traumatic experiences spend time with law enforcement officers from all over the state. I've wrangled many animals including turkeys, groundhogs and bats. I spent time training at the gun range and will soon do water survival training at a local pool. I've had the privilege of working with many game wardens and other officers across many agencies. I look forward to applying for a full time position as soon as the opportunity arises.

There are so many things I have done this summer it’s hard to try and sum it up in a couple of sentences. I can confidently say that this summer has been challenging, but has only helped me get closer to my goal of being a full time Maine game warden.

Helping women like Emily Tripp to achieve their goals is why the NRA Women’s Wildlife Management/Conservation Scholarship was created. For more information on the scholarship, please email the author, Ruthann Sprague, manager of NRA Grants Administration, at [email protected].