LEONARD & SANDY SARGENT UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES GRADUATE FELLOWS
In 1992, Rick Hubbard Sargent and his wife, Judi Stauffer, presented his parents with a unique gift on the occasion of Len’s 80th birthday. They created the Leonard and Sandy Sargent Graduate Fellowship Endowment Fund within the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Montana. The purpose of the fellowships was and remains, “... to provide support to students with a demonstrated record of [environmental] activism.” Rick and Judi and are committed to growing the endowment and, since 2016, have partnered with the Cinnabar Foundation by providing an annual restricted gift to ensure annual funding for a fellowship recipient while the endowment continues to grow through earned income.
The Endowment began making grants in 1995, since then 51 fellowships have been awarded. Many of the recipients are now professionally engaged in environmental advocacy, and all of them remain dedicated to environmental protection. Applications are made through the UM EVST Program, not the Cinnabar Foundation. Past recipients include: 1992-93 Jim McGrath 1994-95 Tom Platt 1995-96 Carla Abrams, Olga Maiboroda, Rob Perks, Bryony Schwan, and Seth Wilson 1996-97 Kaarsten Turner 1997-98 John Adams, Kira Sherwood-Jewett 1998-99 Keith Stockmann 1999-00 Mary Anne Hitt and Kristen Sykes 2000-01 Dan Brister and Amy Stix 2001-02 Gary Hughes and Pamela Uihlein 2002-03 Amy Barry 2003-04 Josh Burnim, Derek Goldman, Carolina McCready and Joellen Shannon 2004-05 Margot Higgins, Melissa Matthewson and John Senn 2005-06 no fellowship awarded 2006-07 Jason Brininstool 2007-08 Cassidy Randall 2008-09 Shannon Donahue and Jennifer Hill-Hart 2009-10 Aaron Kindle 2010-11 Talasi Brooks, Heather Day, Jonathan Leiman and Micah Sewell 2011-12 Douglas A. Davis and Kate Sheridan 2012-13 Kascie Herron and Stephanie Laporte 2013-14 Elizabeth (Ellie) Costello and Rachel Mockler 2014-15 Sam Plotkin and Nick Triolo 2015-16 Adam Andis and Tabitha Espinoza 2016-17 Terri Nichols 2017-18 Rachel Ackerman 2018-19 Holly Seymour 2019-20 Daniel Anderson 2020-21 no fellowship awarded 2021-22 Gardner Dee 2022-23 Paige Johnson 2023-24 August Guenthner 2024-25 Mara Pellerito |