Our 2025 Scholarship Winner!

The Prescott Audubon Society scholarship committee is pleased to announce that the 2025 Environmental Scholarship has been awarded to Savannah Hollenbaugh, a junior at Prescott College. This year, we asked applicants to describe their connection to the environment and to conservation, in addition to how they envisioned their degree could contribute to conservation efforts. Savannah stated that her connection started early, growing up in the mountains of southern California, where she “spent a lot of my time outdoors, hunting, hiking, camping, and just exploring the world around me. Nature has always been my safe space.” In high school and again at community college, she organized trail, lake, and beach clean-ups, to bring awareness to pollution issues, and organized participation at city council meetings “to advocate for environmental protection policies.” She earned a Certificate of Sustainability along with her associate’s degree in California. At Prescott College, she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies, where her interest in ecological restoration has led her to restoring the natural ecosystems of Butte Creek, which runs through the campus. She says this ongoing, multi-year campus project has “confirmed that conservation and restoration is the path I want to take in my career after college,” and it is providing her with the necessary skills to do this work. Savannah will use the scholarship funds to help with her living expenses. As she stated: “I’m deeply committed to protecting the natural world and this scholarship [will] help me stay on track to do that.” Once again, the scholarship committee is proud that PAS continues to support the next generation of young environmentalists.

Thanks to Savannah and to our Scholarship Committee for this excellent choice!