Meet the scholarship winners!

We are thrilled to introduce the winners of this year's TLCNJ scholarships. In 2025 we were able to award SEVEN scholarships of $10,000 each. For 41 years our organization has been proudly supporting future environmental leaders who are training for careers protecting our natural resources. Our scholarship program started in 1983 with the Russell W. Myers Scholarship, followed by the Rogers Family Scholarship in 2005, and has grown exponentially since then. Let's meet the impressive group of students who are shaping the future of conservation in New Jersey.

Cora Attias-Inzano from Hillsborough is a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, studying forest ecology and conservation. Her work in the field is dedicated to saving American beech trees, which are currently threatened by the rapid spread of beech leaf disease—a new and deadly threat. As Cora studies the spread of this disease, she aspires to test management plans and treatments that might save American beeches. This photo shows Cora at the Watershed Institute in Pennington, NJ, with the first beautiful beech in which she discovered infection, inspiring her work to save others like it.

Kayla MacKinnon is from Bloomsbury and just graduated from Villanova University with a BS in environmental science and a BA in Spanish studies with a double major in geography. She will be attending Northeastern University to complete her MS in climate science and engineering. She loves working outside, especially in creeks, where she can find organisms like worms, crayfish, and newts. Kayla has a strong interest in aquatic biogeochemistry and found a passion in geospatial analyses such as ArcGIS and flying drones. She hopes to continue her learning so she can one day teach others through informal environmental education. Some of her most notable lessons came from playing outside and she hopes to increase access to environmentalism for others.

Claire Paul from Flemington is currently attending Western Colorado University’s Masters in Environmental Management program. Claire’s current water quality research on Budd Lake with Raritan Headwaters Association dovetails with her interest in adaptive management of freshwater ecosystems. She spent the past two years with the AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors Program, which inspired her to continue education at WCU on the Integrative and Public Lands Management Track. She holds a B.S. in biology from The College of New Jersey and is a Kingston Greenways Association trustee. Claire hopes to continue her research mitigating harmful algal blooms as she works towards a PhD.

Dhruv Rungta, who hails from from Edison, is studying economics, ecology, and sustainable development at Duke University. He’s passionate about protecting ecosystems—and the human communities that depend on them—by bridging science and law. His work ranges from studying lemur behavior to researching invertebrates on the Great Barrier Reef. Most recently, he interned at the U.S. Department of Justice, serving on an interagency team with the FBI and EPA to investigate high-profile environmental crimes with significant equity implications. This summer he’s supporting NOAA law and enforcement efforts in American Samoa and Hawaii. Dhruv aspires to become an attorney-scientist working to conserve our vital natural resources and advance stronger, more equitable protections. 

Odera Umeh from Orange is a passionate and extraordinary PhD candidate in environmental science and management at Montclair State University. His expertise spans critical environmental areas such as water resources management, environmental toxicology, aquatic species conservation, environmental policy, and sustainability. Odera is tackling some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, currently focusing on addressing PFAS crises in New Jersey drinking water systems and aquatic species, and how best to involve the community in sustainable remedial strategies. He is poised to dedicate his career to identifying and restoring threatened natural resources in New Jersey, while empowering communities to become active environmental stewards.

Lily VanWingerden of Ocean City discovered a love for conservation while creating a native plant garden at a county park to support local insect populations. While monitoring endangered beach-nesting birds with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, she observed firsthand how issues like human disturbance threaten her local environment, which prompted her decision to study environmental science. Lily is majoring in environmental sciences with a GIS certificate at Oregon State University. Her projects also include transcribing ornithology field journals for the Academy of Natural Sciences and collecting data on diamondback terrapins for Stockton University. In her current and future work, she hopes to prioritize environmental education and communication so she can encourage more individuals to take direct action for environmental issues.

Every year we're wowed by the achievements of our scholarship winners, who seem to keep getting more and more impressive in their accomplishments and goals. And 2025 is no exception. Congratulations, everyone!