Marty McGuire Audubon Scholarship

 

Geographic Eligibility

Awards of the MMAS will be made to students from our service area on a need-blind basis. Students must be legal residents, or if already in college, recent legal residents in one of the following zip codes that define the PHAS service area:

Beacon (12508)
Castle Point (12511)
Chelsea (12512)
Cold Spring (10516)
Fishkill (12524)
Garrison (10524)
Glenham (12527)
Hughsonville (12537)
Lake Peekskill (10537)
New Hamburg (12590)
Putnam Valley (10579)
Wappingers Falls (12590)

Students who by accident of postal boundaries legally reside in one of the above places but receive mail via a different zip code are encouraged to apply and note the circumstances.

 

Bedford Audubon Scholarship

Though it is in memory of the same person, the MMAS is distinct from the Bedford Audubon Society's Marty McGuire Scholarship, which funds research or educational programs for high school students in Eastern Putnam County and parts of Northern Westchester.

Earn a College Scholarship

The Marty McGuire Audubon Scholarship (“MMAS”) is a specialized new college scholarship established for graduating high school students from western Putnam and southwestern Dutchess Counties, New York, with interests in nature. Sponsored by the Putnam Highlands Audubon Society (PHAS), the local chapter of the National Audubon Society, the MMAS is also available to undergraduates who live in or are recently from the area. Awards will be made to matriculating or current full-time undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in field biology or field natural history, including those with interests in the field aspects of ornithology, entomology, botany, mammalogy, herpetology, ichthyology, and such similar fields. Preference will be given to students entering their freshman year so they may receive support for their entire undergraduate career, as long as they meet certain simple renewal criteria each year.

About Marty McGuire

The late Marty McGuire was PHAS’ youngest board member beginning at age 15, and was for 5 years the compiler of the Putnam Christmas Bird Count. In 2007, Marty passed away shortly after his 25th birthday in a tragic car accident.  He was a protégé of Ralph Odell, PHAS founder.  Ralph is widely known for sharing his enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, the region's natural world. The MMAS seeks to acknowledge the importance of mentors such as Ralph was to Marty, and the promise of young people like Marty, who are our future.

The Scholarship

The MMAS is a permanently restricted scholarship endowment fund.  Only monies earned as income from the fund will be available for the scholarship awards. Given current market conditions the award for 2010 is expected to be between $800 to $1000.  A matriculating freshman, for example, could reasonably expect to be awarded at least that amount for each of her or his four years of undergraduate study, provided she or he met the renewal requirements. The scholarship will be awarded only in years when a suitable student is found, and then only in years when there is no renewed award. Only one student will be selected per year. Interested students, including ones who are under the academic radar screen, are invited to download and complete the simple application.

Attach the completed application, saved in MS Word, to an email with MMAS in the subject line, and send it to mmas@putnamhighlandsaudubon.org.

 

Applications are due by March 15 of each year, and must be submitted electronically. Official notice of the award will be made by late May. Any questions? Contact mmas@putnamhighlandsaudubon.org.