Three Colorado State University graduate students are recipients of the annual P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Scholarship, an annual $20,000 scholarship.
This year, 825 applications were received from throughout the United States and Canada. One hundred ten applications were selected for support. Twenty-five applications were from Colorado and of those, five were chosen, two of which were nominated by Chapter HF in Estes Park.
The review process for the Scholar Award is merit-based and extremely rigorous. Paige Hansen and Allison Kohler, both Ph.D. students in Ecology at CSU, as well as Annika Weber, a Ph.D. student in Food Science and Human Nutrition, are among the 110 recipients.
Paige M. Hansen
Hansen is a 2018 Graduate of the University of Kansas, where she completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Her research at that time focused on how various types of environmental disturbance, including precipitation and fire, lead to alterations in soil microbial community composition and function that are related to nutrient cycling. She participated in two summer intern-abroad experiences at Leiden University (Leiden, Netherlands) and Kasetart University (Bangkok, Thailand), supported by fellowships and grants. These experiences culminated in two publications (Hansen et al., 2019; Dodds et al., 2020) and eight presentations at local seminars and national conferences. Numerous publications and presentations have been added to her resume since that time. Her dissertation focuses on better understanding the environmental controls as well as the contributions of soil microbes to the formation of two different pools of soil organic carbon.
Allison Kohler
Kohler is a 2018 graduate of Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, with bachelor’s degrees in biology and natural resources. She also holds a master’s degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Growing up in a small, forested town in northern Minnesota, Kohler was one with nature where chasing fireflies and tracking wildlife were daily activities. She found that birds and mammals were especially intriguing and noticed that understanding their languages came easy to her. This desire to understand the languages of animals and translate it to others led her to becoming a researcher and educator. Kohler’s graduate work at Texas A&M investigated how different ranching practices impacted grassland birds. Her work focused on providing ranchers with recommendations on how they could alter their grazing regimens to support their cattle and grassland bird conservation.
Annika Weber
Annika Weber is a Food Science and Human Nutrition Ph.D. student. In her Ph.D., she is applying her experience in nutrition and biochemistry to research the host-associated microbiota-metabolic responses to nutrient-dense foods and associated health outcomes, while also applying a broader lens at the food-energy-water nexus. Weber hopes to apply her doctoral research to an international public health agency where she can continue working to find integrative food solutions to promote nutrition and health across the lifespan.
P.E.O. Chapter HF
P.E.O. has been celebrating women, helping women reach for the stars for more than 150 years. Since its inception in 1869, the nonprofit organization has helped more than 122,000* women pursue educational goals by providing over $415 million* in grants, scholarships, awards and loans. The Sisterhood also owns and supports Cottey College. Through membership, the P.E.O. Sisterhood has brought together more than a half million women in the United States and Canada who are passionate about helping women advance through education while supporting and motivating them. What started with a bond of friendship among seven women in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is now one of the oldest women’s organizations in North America, with close to 5,800 chapters.
To learn more about P.E.O., its powerful educational philanthropies and see stories of women who have benefited from the programs, visit peointernational.org.
