The FWC – Florida Marine Research Institute welcomes Courtney Wellington, their first Hutton Scholarship Award Winner.

Courtney Wellington has been chosen as one of the 55 students nationwide to participate in the 2003 Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program, an innovative education program developed by the American Fisheries Society (AFS). Courtney is a senior at Dixie M. Hollins High School and has been matched with her mentors Rich McBride and Kathy Guindon-Tisdel through AFS for a summer-long, hands-on experience in fisheries science.

Ms. Wellington will be exposed to a variety of projects within fisheries biology including Project Tampa Bay (release of hatchery red drum into Tampa Bay) and studies on American shad, hogfish, pompano, tarpon, and wahoo.

The Hutton Program was designed primarily to stimulate interest in the fisheries science profession among minority and women high school students, though all high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible for the Hutton Program.

In the Hutton’s third year, AFS received 192 eligible student applications from across the country and Puerto Rico and selected 55 applicants to receive scholarships and mentorships. The chosen students reflect the diversity of the United States: there are seven African-American students, six Native American students, five Hispanic students, two Asian-American students, one Arab-American student, and one Haitian-American student. Caucasian students make up 60% of the group, and well over half of those students are female.

This summer, Hutton Scholars will be working with their mentors in Puerto Rico and 23 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida (of course), Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

AFS received a grant for the 2003 Hutton Program from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation with financial support provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. Additional financial support came from the NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Progress Energy, and several AFS subunits.

Co-sponsors of the Hutton Program include the District of Columbia Government/Fish and Wildlife Division, National Association of Biology Teachers, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

For more information on the American Fisheries Society and the Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program, please visit the Hutton website at www.fisheries.org/Hutton.