The Kiwanis Club of Roanoke is pleased to announce that Lauren Cone of Roanoke is this year’s winner of the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke’s $5,000 environmental scholarship. Ms. Cone is a Hidden Valley High School graduate and a rising junior majoring in ecological engineering at Virginia Tech. She was given the award at the Wednesday, June 11 meeting of the club at Charter Hall in the Roanoke Market Building.
Born and raised in Roanoke, Ms. Cone expects to remain in the Roanoke area after graduation and work in the field of ecological restoration. As she noted in her scholarship application, “There are some great companies that are using engineering to do work in stream restoration and are having success in restoring biodiversity and health to rivers and habitats.” She is currently working for the third summer at Camp Roanoke in Roanoke County where she “gets to educate elementary age students on environmental principles, lead activities, and help to foster an appreciation for the natural world around us.”
At Virginia Tech she volunteers as a peer mentor for the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity to mentor first-year engineers. This fall she will be a Streamkeeper to monitor and record water quality data from the Duck Pond on the Virginia Tech campus and a Weeks of Welcome leader to facilitate orientation activities for incoming first-year students. She spends time outdoors, running, hiking and volunteering, helping with road races and pulling trash from the Duck Pond “to help keep the stream and its surrounding area clean and healthy.”
Each year, a $5,000 scholarship is awarded by the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke to a student who has attended a high school in western Virginia and who is attending Virginia Tech, Ferrum College, Hollins University, or Roanoke College and majoring or pursuing a graduate degree in environmental protection or natural resource management. Award criteria include financial need, academic performance, experience in environmental protection or natural resources management, and goals after graduation.