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Academic Scholarships

The EIA Women’s Council established an educational scholarship program to assist qualified individuals in their pursuit of an education that will lead to productive careers in the environmental industry. All NSWMA and WASTEC member employees and their dependents are eligible to apply. The Women's Council has awarded scholarships to 21 students during the last 6 years.

Former Scholarship Recipients

EIA Women's Council logo

Click arrows for more info about classes of scholarship recipients listed below.

2013 Scholarship Winners

In 2013, the Women's Council awarded three scholarships to children of waste company employees and two Founders Scholarships to full-time waste company employees in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Council.

 

Ryan Lews, Piedmont, CA

Ryan Lewis

Ryan Lewis, 18, is from Piedmont, CA, and is a full-time student at the University of California-Davis studying biochemical engineering. He has been surrounded by engineering and science his entire life with a mother and father who are both civil engineers in the solid waste industry. “Mom still chuckles when she tells people she would read the specifications for construction equipment to me from the Caterpillar Performance Handbook rather than bedtime stories,” he wrote in his application. During his summers in high school he has worked on several science- and engineering-related projects, including creating mobile environmental apps and improving street networks.

Lacy Rutledge, Baytown, TX

Larimore Headshot

Lacy Rutledge, 18, from Baytown, TX, has been accepted to Texas A&M University and plans to study chemical engineering. She was introduced to the solid waste industry and its challenges by her father, a heavy equipment mechanic for Republic Services in Anahuac. “Listening to my dad discuss his day at the landfill at dinner encouraged me to pursue a degree in the environmental field to find more productive ways to harvest waste and oils, fuel, and other chemicals,” she wrote in her application. To do that, Rutledge wants to study chemical engineering and develop efficient, clean, and useful methods for processing materials – and make life better for people as a result. In addition to her career interests, she is active in the Future Farmers of America, a member of the National Honor Society, and a volunteer at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Kaitlyn Trent, Fayetteville, OH

Kaitlyn Trent

Kaitlyn Trent, 20, of Fayetteville, OH, is a full-time student at Bowling Green State University, where she studies environmental policy and analysis with a specialization in environmental law. Trent was introduced to the solid waste industry and its challenges by her mother, who works for Waste Management. “I wish to continue the family legacy with the company by pursuing a career as an environmental protection specialist, or frankly anything regarding the policy side of the environmental industry,” she wrote in her application. “I maintain the opinion that the most effective way to protect and better the environment universally is accomplished by the creation of environmental laws regulating correlating fields.” Trent is active in several of Bowling Green State’s environmental organizations, most recently helping plan its Earth Day celebration. She is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society and works as a lab assistant in the biology department studying the effects of pollution on wildlife.

Dawn McMahan, Eyota, MN

Dawn McMahan

Dawn McMahan, 32, of Eyota, MN, has three full-time occupations: office manager for Advanced Disposal, student at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and mother to two school-aged children. “It's very important to be a role model for my children by showing them no matter what age you begin or continue your education, it’s important to finish and strive for excellence in higher learning,” she wrote in her application. “I want my children to know the importance of going to college and what opportunities of a having a degree can do for a career.” When her degree is in hand, McMahan hopes to move ahead in Advanced Disposal. Its mission is one she embraces. “I'm passionate about creating a culture that is conscious about the environment we live in and wanting to protect, clean and enhance the environment,” she wrote.

Laura Morris, Midwest City, OK

Laura Morris

Laura Morris, 41, is a full-time employee of Sea Coast Disposal in Midwest City, OK, where she works as an office manager. She plans to study environmental science at Rose State College.  Two relatives – a sister and a brother-in-law – work in the solid waste business and served as inspirations. “I felt that refuse was bred in me and that two very important people in my life had been in this business for a big part of my life,” Morris wrote in her application. “I changed my degree to environmental science and am proceeding with my new career. I look forward to many years in this industry and have several mentors to help me along my way.”

2012 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded three scholarships in 2012 to the following students for the next academic year:

 

Zachary Aaron Kuerschner, Woodridge, Illinois

Kuerschner Headshot

Zachary Aaron Kuerschner is a high school student and son of Waste Management employee in Woodridge, Illinois. Zac has been accepted to multiple schools to study business. In addition to high academic promise, he played football throughout high school, was a member of the National Honors Society and worked at a local food pantry. Inspired by his father and uncle, both WM employees, Zac has chosen to study Operations/Logistics Management to improve environmental sustainability.

Virginia Lee Larimore, Newfane, New York

Larimore Headshot

Virginia Lee Larimore is a high school student and daughter of a Republic Services employee in Newfane, New York. As a top-ranked high school student, Ginny has been accepted to multiple schools for the study of civil engineering. She is active in several extracurricular activities including FIRST Robotics, the National Honors Society, class officer the Girls Scouts. She also was JV volleyball co-captain for her school. While attending seminars as part of the CATALYST Academy at Cornell University, she was inspired to follow in her father's footsteps and enter the field of environmental management.

Maria Isabel Menchaca, Las Vegas, Nevada

Menchaca Headshot

Maria Isabel Menchaca is District Controller of Republic Services, working at Republic's Apex Regional Landfill in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has just completed her first semester of law school at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is studying environmental and tax law. As a first generation college graduate, Maria gives back to her community in many activities, including teach financial literacy to Spanish-speaking residents. She also is a play for Inter Las Vegas, an adult female soccer team, which has taken championships in each of the last 4 years.

2011 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded three scholarships in 2011 to the following students for the next academic year:

 

Nathan Geldner, Nashville, Tennessee

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Nathan Geldner, a 36-year old father of three girls, attends night school in business management at Argosy University, Nashville.  After discharging from an 8-year stint in the US Air Force in 2006, Nathan now works as a welder/mechanic for Republic Services in Tennessee.

Courtney Lang, Parkland, Florida

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Courtney Lang is a high school senior from Parkland, Florida, where she is known as the “Orchid Lady” for her care of plants at a 24-acre nature preserve. In addition to high academic achievement, Courtney impressed the selection committee with her well-expressed interest in environmental studies.  Her first choice of schools is the University of Southern California where she would like to concentrate in sustainability. Her father is employed by Republic Services in Phoenix, Arizona.

Kaitlyn Trent, Cincinnati, Ohio

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Kaitlyn Trent is one of a pair of twins from Ohio who applied for the scholarship.  While Kaitlyn is a consistently strong student, it was her knowledge of and intense interest in solid waste management that most impressed the selection committee.  It was apparent to the committee that Kaitlyn has caught the “environmental bug” from her mother, a Waste Management governmental affairs employee.  She plans to enroll in an environmental studies program this Fall.

2010 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded four scholarships in 2010 to the following students for the next academic year:

 

Lindsay Foster-Drago, Portland, Oregon

2010 Scholarship winner Foster-Drago

Lindsay Foster-Drago is the first repeat recipient of an EIA Women’s Council scholarship. She is working full-time for Keith Manufacturing Co. while completing an MBA at Marylhurst University. The granddaughter of the inventor of the Keith Walking Floor System, Lindsay is training to someday take the helm of the family business.

Anna Oleksiewicz, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

2010 Scholarship winner Oleksiewicz

Anna Oleksiewicz is a high school senior who will be attending the University of Illinois studying electrical engineering in the Fall. The child of a Navistar, Inc. engineer, Anna is fluent in three languages, is a distance runner, auto mechanic, and mountain climber. She has already applied for a provisional patent for a collapsible bicycle carrier that can be used for air travel.

Jack Stern, Los Angeles, California

2010 Scholarship winner Stern

Jack Stern is a dean’s list student at the University of Southern California where he is studying civil engineering. His mother is a communications manager at Waste Management, Inc. When not in school, Jack fights forest fires and is a certified first responder for Marin County, California’s Fire Department.

Kristin Van Kampen, Grand Rapids, Michigan

2010 Scholarship winner Van Kampen

Kristin Van Kampen is the daughter of a Republic Services, Inc. employee. Finishing her second year in biology and environmental studies at Calvin College in Michigan, Kristin is devoted to protecting worldwide ecology. After studying greenhouse management at her college, she travelled to Costa Rica to study biodiversity and apply her skills.

2009 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded five scholarships in 2009 to the following students for the next academic year:
 

Lindsay Foster-Drago, Portland, Oregon

Lindsay Foster-Drago image

Lindsay is a systems administrator for Keith Manufacturing, home of the walking-floor trailer. She will be attending an evening MBA-program at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon.

Corinne Magnuson, New Hampshire

Corinne Magnuson image

As a day student at a New Hampshire boarding school, Cori kept up top grades while taking leading roles in public speaking, music, swimming, and the 4-H Club. Cori intends to become an environmental engineer.

Emily, Robbins, Worcester, Massachusetts

Emily, Robbins image

Emily is a high school senior from Worcester, Massachusetts. She received top grades while working part-time and taking leading roles in student council, year book and the national honor society. She has applied to the University of Michigan environmental program.

Joshua Sjögren, Grafton, Massachusetts

Joshua Sjögren image

Josh is a high school senior in Grafton, Massachusetts who reached the rank of Eagle Scout at 15. Deeply involved in sports and volunteer work, he will start an environmental science program in the Fall.

Austin Snyder

Austin Snyder image

Austin is going into her junior year in Environmental Resource Management at Penn State University. She interned at Waste Management last summer and has a strong interest in wildlife conservation efforts.

2008 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded $2,500 scholarships in 2008 to the following four students:
 

Tonyia Downs, Shelbyville, Indiana

Tonyia Downs

Tonyia is employed as a salesperson for Republic Services since 2001. In 2006, she was inducted into the "Chairman's Club" as one of the top sales people in the entire company. The mother of one adult son, Tonyia began her straight-A college career in 2005 at Indiana Wesleyan University, after a 30-year hiatus from higher education.

Jenna Harbin, New Washington, Indiana

Jenna Harbin

Jenna is the number-one ranked student in her high school class. She intends to attend college in the fall for a degree in environmental studies. Her mother is a salesperson for Republic Services in Louisville, Kentucky.

Drew Landoll, Pierce City, Missouri

Drew Landoll

The son of a regional engineer for Waste Corporation of America, Drew will be completing his studies in civil engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Molly Reed, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee

Molly Reed

Molly is in her second year of pre-engineering at Middle Tennessee State University and will enroll in the civil engineering program at Tennessee Technological University in the fall. Molly’s father is a supervisor for Allied Waste in Nashville, Tennessee.

2007 Scholarship Winners

The Council awarded scholarship of $2,500 to two students during the inaugural year for the program:
 

David Reed, Owings Mills, Maryland

David Reed

David Reed has just completed his senior year at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland. During the summers and holidays he works for his family’s business—Cockey’s Enterprises, Inc. His great grandmother took over the hauling business after the death of her husband and eventually handed the reins over to David’s father. Today 3 of the 4 owners are women, including his aunts and mother. David plans on pursuing a degree in business with a minor in environmental studies.

Victoria Lindsey, Willimantic, Connecticut

Victoria Lindsey image

Victoria Lindsey has been employed by DeVivo Industries’ Willimantic Waste Paper Company, Inc. of Willimantic, Connecticut since 2000. She is currently employed full time as a sales manager and is on the Dean’s list at East Connecticut State University where she is working towards the completion of her degree in Business Administration.

 

Contact:

Comments or questions?

Peggy Macenas, Manager
Tel: 800-679-6269 or womens-council@envasns.org