Grimes Receives Udall Foundation Honorable Mention

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Shannon Grimes, of Missoula, a sophomore at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

BRUNSWICK, ME (04/17/2012)(readMedia)-- Shannon Grimes, of Missoula, a Government and Legal Studies, and French double major at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, has been selected to receive honorable mention by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, whose scholarship program recognizes students who are environmental leaders in their communities and on their college campuses.

This year the Udall Foundation awarded 50 honorable mentions countrywide, each with an award of $350. Recipients are selected based upon their demonstrated commitment to careers related to the environment.

Grimes is president of the Green Bowdoin Alliance and was instrumental in its founding.

"I have been active in environmental clubs and issues since high school," says Grimes. "I'm interested in environmental policy, particularly encouraging local food. I spent seven years of my life in New Zealand, am from Montana, and go to college in Maine, all places that inspire my appreciation for the natural world."

Grimes has a lot on her plate; in addition to her involvement with Taste for Change, the student group that organizes dinners to raise money for local charities, she has volunteered at organic gardens back home and at the College. Grimes also participates in the a cappella group Bellamafia, swing dance, yoga and ultimate Frisbee.

Grimes heads to Cameroon in the fall for a semester abroad, where she plans to research local food production in addition to her French and government studies.

The Udall Foundation is an independent federal agency that was established by Congress in 1992 to provide federally funded scholarships for college students intending to pursue careers related to the environment, as well as to Native American students pursuing tribal policy or health care careers.