Media contact: Yvonne Taunton
Rose AlbertRose Albert, a University of Alabama at Birmingham rising junior, has been awarded the Udall Foundation’s Undergraduate Scholarship. Albert is the third UAB Udall Scholarship awardee since 2014.
The scholarship recognizes students in two categories: the environment and Native American policy and health care. Albert is selected for the environmental category, which generally has a 10 percent national selection rate. Of the 429 students who were nominated nationwide for the Udall this year, 359 applied in the environmental category. Albert was one of only 55 Udall scholars — and one of 37 in the environmental category — selected.
Each scholarship provides up to $7,000 for the scholar’s junior or senior year. Since the first awards in 1996, the Udall Foundation has awarded 1,733 scholarships totaling $8,860,000.
The 2020 Udall Scholars are scheduled to assemble Aug. 4-9, in Tucson, Arizona, to meet one another and the program’s alumni, learn more about the Udall legacy of public service, and interact with community leaders in environmental fields, tribal health care and governance.
“Rose is a problem-solver,” said Ashley Kuntz, Ph.D., director of UAB’s National and International Fellowships and Scholarships. “As an undergraduate researcher, she asks good questions and methodically investigates possible answers. As a leader, she enlists others to remove barriers and achieve common goals. As a community member, she works alongside others to advocate for change. These qualities make her an exceptional representative of the Udall Foundation’s values of civility, integrity and consensus.”
Albert is a chemistry major in UAB’s College of Arts and Sciences and is also pursuing her master’s degree in public health in UAB’s School of Public Health. Albert is also a member of the UAB Honors College Science and Technology Honors Program. She has participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University program and is president of UAB’s Green Initiative, participates in Hydroponics at UAB and, most recently, was the community science intern with GASP, a nonprofit advancing healthy air and environmental justice throughout Greater Birmingham.
After graduation, Albert plans to gain experience in public health settings such as with nonprofits and international organizations before she pursues a doctoral degree in public health with a concentration in environmental health. Her studies will focus on the efficacy of health policy, leading environmental advocacy initiatives, and collaboration to combat social and environmental health disparities. She is specifically interested in researching air quality in urban environments. Her ultimate goal is to pursue a career as an environmental health scientist in a government sector such as the Centers for Disease Control or with nonprofit organizations.
“Sophomores are rarely selected for this award,” said Suzanne Austin, Ph.D., UAB senior vice provost and senior international officer. “It is such an accomplishment for Rose to have earned this prestigious scholarship. We are all proud of her environmental advocacy and volunteer work on our campus and community and have no doubt she will be a leader in improving quality of life for communities around the globe.”
Established by Congress in 1992, the Udall Foundation awards scholarships, fellowships and internships for study in fields related to the environment and to Native Americans and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care and tribal public policy. It provides funding to the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy to conduct policy research and outreach on the environment and related themes and to the Native Nations Institute for research, education and outreach on Native American and Alaska Native health care issues and tribal public policy issues. The foundation operates the Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus Program, which helps connect middle school youth to nature through photography, environmental education and outdoor recreation; and provides assessment, mediation, training and other related services through the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution. UAB is one of eight Morris Udall Centers of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research.