Wyoming Student Wins Beach Scholarship

“We are pleased to award the Gary Beach Memorial Scholarship to Rebecca Burton, a Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management student at the University”, said Bobbie Frank, Executive Director of the Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation.

Burton plans to stay in Wyoming and use her education to preserve and protect Wyoming’s wildlife. She hopes to gain employment with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department as a Wildlife or Fisheries Biologist upon graduation.

Burton graduated from Saratoga Middle High School in 2011. In addition to her studies, Burton is employed by the Saratoga-Encampment-Rawlins Conservation District as a seasonal Resource Technician

The Gary Beach scholarship was created in 2006 by the Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation in honor of Gary Beach, a long time employee of the Department of Environmental Quality. Beach was instrumental in working with local conservation districts to establish a grassroots driven watershed planning effort to address Wyoming’s impaired waters. Thanks to the generosity of Beach’s family the scholarship has been continued.

The WNRF offered this $1,200 Gary Beach Memorial Scholarship to University of Wyoming students enrolled at junior status or higher. Students studying natural resource management or related fields were encouraged to apply, and students planning to live and work in Wyoming after graduation were given preference during selection.