Turbek Receives Udall Foundation Honorable Mention

Bowdoin College Junior Awarded for Commitment to Environment

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Sheela Turbek, of Brookfield, a junior at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

BRUNSWICK, ME (04/17/2012)(readMedia)-- Sheela Turbek, of Brookfield, a biology and Spanish double major, and environmental studies minor 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.

Turbek has tapped her passion and her academic work to pursue a series of environmental endeavors.

"I am interested in promoting environmentally-friendly agricultural practices and increasing access to fresh produce because sustainable, small-scale farming benefits local communities, protects the environment for future generations, and doesn't put profit ahead of worker and consumer health," says Turbek, who was awarded the Psi Upsilon Fellowship last summer to intern with Cultivating Community, an organization in Portland, Maine, that provides organic produce for low-income community members.

Two summers ago, Turbek received the Global Citizens Grant to volunteer on two small-scale organic farms in Ecuador through Fundación Brethren y Unida.

Turbek has also led backpacking and sea kayaking trips through the Bowdoin Outing Club and has been an active member of Amnesty International. Last year, she also served as a student representative on the Faculty Working Group on Sustainability.

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.