Kaylan Gee Named National Hollings Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Four University of Alabama students have received National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships for 2010.
The four students are among 121 students nationwide awarded the scholarship this year.
Nineteen UA students have been named Hollings Scholars since the inception of the scholarship in 2005.

“These are excellent students, and they are very excited about winning this award,” said Dr. Gary Sloan, professor of microbiology and coordinator of prestigious scholarships and awards in UA’s Honors College.The scholarships provide $8,000 per year for full-time study during the junior and senior years and $6,500 for a 10-week internship at NOAA or a NOAA-approved facility during the summer between the junior and senior years.

The Hollings Scholarship Program, administered by NOAA, is designed to improve undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, research technology, and natural resource education; increase public understanding of environmental stewardship; and improve scientific and environmental education in the United States.
Sloan said UA students in the past have interned in Hawaii, California, Miami and Washington, D.C.

Students studying biological and agricultural sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, engineering, computer and information sciences, social and behavioral sciences and teacher education are eligible to apply.

Kaylan Gee

Gee, a sophomore from Irmo, S.C., is double majoring in microbiology and Spanish in the College of Arts and Sciences. She works in the microbial ecology laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Edmonds, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences. She researches changes in microbial communities in the Talladega National Forest caused by the demise of beaver dams. Gee is vice president of administration for Kappa Alpha Theta, as well as a member of SGA Judicial Board, Alpha Epsilon Delta and The Other Club. Gee also is a peer mentor for UA’s Honors College Connection, and she volunteers with Impact Alabama’s SaveFirst.