Award Recipients
Fellowship Recipients
Pictured (L-R): Dr. William W. Taylor, Laura Riley,
Alyson McHugh, Dr. Kunwar Rajendra, and Nathan Pfost
2016 – Audrey Boike, Quinton Merrill, Dave Sandahl
2015 – Kaitlin Clark, Aya Pickett
2009 - Robert Stout
2008 – Lauren Scopel
2007 – Andrew Myers
2006 – Michelle Rosen
2005 – Valerie Alzner
2004 – Alyson McHugh
2003 – Nathan Pfost
2002 – Laura R. Riley
2001 – Laura R. Riley
2000 – Lisa Herder
Essay Award Winners
Since the creation of FW101L (Introduction to Fisheries and Wildlife Lab) in 2008, students in this class have had their initial outdoor laboratory experience in the Rachana Rajendra Neotropical Migrant Bird Sanctuary.
This is an eye-opening experience for many of them who are unfamiliar with the Sanctuary and the flora and fauna it sustains. At the end of their class experience, the students are asked to write a reflective essay, and many of them have written about the value of their experience visiting the Sanctuary.
They often express how they love that we have such a place at MSU, and how this helps them get closer to nature. The Rajendra Essay Award was established in 2012 to recognize students who choose to focus their reflective essay on the topic of "sanctuary," specifically connecting this concept to their time in the Rachana Rajendra Neotropical Migrant Bird Sanctuary, and to the life of Rachana Rajendra.
2017 Essay Winner: Madeline Carr
2016 Essay Winners: Phillip Ankley and Hunter Stanke
2015 Essay Winners: Steve Gurney and Clarissa Winters
2014 Essay Winners: Danielle Blumstein and Frances Thompson
2013 Essay Winners: Nick Everett and Sam Brill
2012 Essay Winner: Antonio Martinez