We are very pleased to announce that Casa Grande graduate Lucia Garay is our 2020 recipient of the David Bouverie Scholarship, awarded to one extraordinary volunteer as they enter college.
Conservation work is a call to action that requires courage, and courage requires hope. Lucia Garay is one source of hope for us all. Lucia has been a Juniper for seven years and over that time has shown outstanding commitment to conservation and a deep interest in nature.
Over the years she has co-led many guided nature walks, participated in newt counts, took park in many stewardship events at Bouverie, and aided in the training of new Junipers. Before the fires she took it upon herself to redesign and build signal crayfish traps that could capture juveniles. When the original traps were destroyed in the fires she built a new set. Lucia attended the Conservation Science Intensive for young women aged 14-17 after her freshman year of high school.
In addition to her contributions at Bouverie she is climate justice advocate. Lucia will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall to study microbial biology.
We look forward to ongoing collaboration with Lucia.
About the Scholarship Fund
The David Bouverie Scholarship Fund was established in memory of Phyllis Ellman, a longtime ACR Board member and “founding mother” of the Bouverie Preserve’s Environmental Education Program for which she served as a docent from 1980 until her death in June 2009. Phyllis was also one of the founders of the Juniper Program at Bouverie.