| Scholarships Inspire Future Environmental Careers |
| Wednesday, April 21, 2021 08:26 AM |
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“In El Salvador, my family was so poor that neither of my parents pursued an education past the 5th grade. Instead they had to work in the fields. In 2001, we sought refuge in this country and have been able to make a better living ever since. Now, it is my personal goal to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and to become licensed as a professional engineer.” So began the essay of Dayana Arrue, now a staff engineer for Langan, when she applied for and won an LSRPA scholarship in 2017. “I can honestly say locally, in our tri-state area, it was the best scholarship available,” Arrue said. Arrue was already an intern with Langan and a junior at Rutgers University in Newark when she won the award, which helped her meet contacts. “It felt like a smoother integration into the professional world,” she said. Called the Elmeryl Davies Memorial Scholarship, it is named after the late wife of Julian Davies, one of the founding members of the LSRPA, an educator who suffered an untimely death in 2014. Since 2016, when the first scholarships were awarded, 36 deserving students have been awarded scholarships totaling $100,000. Three people have won it twice. Benjamin Alter, LSRP, a senior vice president of GZA, the original and long-serving chairperson of the LSRPA College Outreach Committee, said the idea for the scholarships came from a commitment to the future and fulfillment of the LSRPA mission to “further the Licensed Site Remediation Profession.” “We senior people in this profession have a commitment to the next generation to see that the profession continues to grow and prosper,” he said. Scholarships are awarded by the LSRPA Foundation, a 501c3 organization. All donations to the LSRPA Foundation are tax deductible. Diversity, encouragement and understanding within the environmental professions are stated goals of the LSRPA. The LSRPA has taken steps through scholarships and outreach to encourage our profession to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Diversity is reflected in the numbers. To date, three-quarters of the awardees have been women. About half have been of Hispanic, African American, or of Asian descent. This is not by design, Alter said; it’s by the quality of the applications. A cursory review of the 2021 scholarship recipients shows the level of achievement. High grade-point averages, honor societies, doctoral programs, published articles, and internships are common. Funded in part by a portion of continuing education courses and the LSRPA annual golf outing, the scholarship now offers $3,000 to full-time students and $2,000 to part-time students. Students must either be a resident of New Jersey or attend a school in New Jersey. Each year, the scholarship winners are reported to the members of the LSRPA. But unless you happen to speak with one of them at the annual conference, you may know little about them. Over a series of e-blasts the LSRPA will introduce you to a number of men and women, early in their careers, whose academics have been rewarded by the LSRPA. They represent the future of the environmental profession.  Dayana Arrue Dayana Arrue emailed the essay she submitted with her application for the 2017 LSRPA scholarship. “Honestly, I’m glad I’m reading this again to remind myself what I was striving for. It’s so easy to lose our purpose in the daily hustle and bustle,” she said. Here’s an excerpt. “Being a first generation college student has not occurred by mere coincidence but rather hard work; I have not taken it very lightly. My parents have worked hard in this country so that I would be able to pursue a higher education. In El Salvador, my family was so poor that neither of my parents pursued an education past the 5th grade. Instead, they had to work in the fields. “In 2001, we sought refuge in this country and have been able to make a better living ever since. Now, it is my personal goal to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and to become licensed as a professional engineer.” One goal down, two to go. Arrue graduated from Rutgers University in Newark with degrees in geoscience engineering and civil engineering. Her degrees came as part of a life-long passion for the environment. “I’ve always been the type to like to play in the dirt. I would choose this over any day to be in the office,” Arrue said. She also has a clear passion for her native El Salvador. “I form part of a group of young, Salvadorian professionals who hope to bring innovative ideas to the country, which lays in a pool of blood as a result of political fraud and gang violence,” she wrote in her essay. Since 2001, Arrue has only been back to El Salvador once, when her grandmother was ill. “I came back with a clear personal purpose: to educate the citizens about the environmental pollution in El Salvador and propose solutions. The idea is very frightening but I know it is not impossible,” she wrote. Arrue applied for and won the LSRPA scholarship in her junior year – she learned about it at Rutgers Newark. “I can honestly say locally, in our tri-state area, it was the best scholarship available, monetarily speaking,” she said. At the ceremony for scholarship recipients, Committee Chairperson Benjamin Alter, LSRP, introduced Arrue and the other recipients to everyone he could. “It felt like a smoother integration into the professional world,” Arrue said. Before graduating, Arrue was an intern with Langan and worked part time with them after graduating. She’s been full time with Langan since 2018, working on a large project on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. COVID-19 has kept her out of the office - away from coworkers and comradery - but her goals remain clear. Like many of her fellow scholarship winners, Arrue said her goal is to become an LSRP: “I can’t think of a better way to work towards that." |