1999 Carol A. Ratza Memorial Scholarship
To recognize outstanding achievement and vision in electronic communications technology

Karyla Trester is the winner of the 1999 Carol A. Ratza Memorial Scholarship. A master's student in Environmental Communications at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Trester is producing a video on declining amphibian populations in the Midwest.

A Message from Karyla Trester

"I believe that amphibian declines in the Great Lakes can be curbed by promoting regionalism through communications technologies. I hope by documenting the current status of amphibians in an engaging way, I can create an awareness about the need to preserve what makes our backyard so precious and unique."

Trester holds undergraduate degrees from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., and Highland Community College in Freeport. She was one of 60 students named nationally as a Watson Fellow in 1997-98. Through this fellowship she studied waste policy and practice in the Pacific Rim, which involved extensive travel in Australia, Fiji, Singapore and New Zealand. Currently, Trester is an environmental policy intern at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in Springfield.

About the Carol A. Ratza Memorial Scholarship
The Ratza Scholarship was established in 1998 in memory of Carol A. Ratza who directed the Commission's Communications Program from 1986-1997. The competition is open to high school seniors and returning students enrolled full-time at a Great Lakes college or university. The 2006 application deadline is April 3. For details or to contribute to the scholarship fund, see www.glc.org/about/scholarships or contact Christine Manninen, manninen@glc.org.