The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to American Indian nations or to the environment. The Udall Scholarship honors the legacies of Morris Udall and Stewart Udall, whose careers had a significant impact on American Indian self-governance, health care, and the stewardship of public lands and natural resources.
This year, Northeastern University was proud to nominate three students for the Udall Scholarship.
Hannah Bergam COS'17
Hannah Bergam COS’17
A double major in environmental studies and economics, Hannah Bergam believes that incentives driven by the realities of climate chance and resource scarcity will push the marketplace to develop new ideas and new solutions for the environmental challenges we face. Hannah’s interest is in companies that respond innovatively to these challenges, as demonstrated by her co-ops at PowerAdvocate and EnerNOC, companies that are pioneering services such as energy intelligence and demand response. A native of Washington and a University Scholar, Hannah designed an independent research project to map Boston’s urban heat islands, and she has worked with a group of other University Scholars to design and advocate for accessible playgrounds in underserved areas of the city.
Margaret DiGiorno COS'17
Margaret DiGiorno COS’17
Growing up in Minnesota, Margaret DiGiorno spent her summers exploring pristine waterways by canoe. Now an environmental science major and University Scholar at Northeastern, Margaret aspires to discover and implement new methods for remediating water pollution and restoring natural environments in order to increase the quantity and quality of global water resources. While on co-op at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Margaret assisted in developing a curriculum on climate change that would satisfy state science standards for public schools. She has also put her research skills to use as leader of a student research team that completed an environmental scan to help a local community organization better serve its clients’ needs. Margaret has also competed on Northeastern’s Division I rowing team.
Madeleine Wax COE'16
Madeleine Wax COE’16
Madeleine Wax is a civil engineer from Oregon who sees the remediation of polluted sites as an issue of environmental justice. The Government Accountability Office estimates that there may be up to 425,000 brownfields—land parcels whose reuse is complicated by environmental concerns—in the United States, and Madeleine’s aspiration is to pursue innovative ways to return these sites to productive use within communities. Madeleine has gained extensive hands-on experience in the environmental consulting field through two co-ops and an internship at Roux Associates, a firm where she was involved in projects as diverse as litigation, military site remediation, and river restoration. A member of the university Honors Program, Madeleine is also a resident assistant at Northeastern.