Two University of Maryland Students Named Udall Scholars

Two University of Maryland (UMD) juniors working on environmental justice issues have been awarded prestigious scholarships from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation).

Sophia D’Alonzo and Meghana Kotraiah were among 55 students chosen nationally, according to the May 1 announcement from the National Scholarships Office.

The Udall Foundation was established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 as an independent executive branch agency to honor Morris K. Udall's lasting impact on this nation's environment, public lands, and natural resources, and his support of the rights and self-governance of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The Udall Scholarship recognizes leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment. It provides up to $7,000 for tuition, room and board, or other educational expenses and the opportunity to travel to Tucson, Arizona, where the foundation is headquartered, for a summer conference.

“We are absolutely thrilled and proud to see Meghana and Sophia receive national recognition for their commitment to the environment through their extensive service activities and research,” said Leslie Brice, Assistant Director of the National Scholarships Office. “They are equally inspiring in their different approaches to address critical problems facing the environment and our relation to it.”

Kotraiah, a junior, has worked in the Congressional hearing room in the Longworth House Office Building named for Morris K. Udall, one of the brothers who created the scholarship. As an intern in the House Natural Resources Committee, Kotraiah learned about the scholarship and its founders as she worked on the very issues it’s designed to address.

“It’s really special to me,” said Kotraiah. “In addition to natural resources policy… I’m really interested in water policy. There are marginalized communities that need support and protection from the Federal Government to ensure that they have equal access to it, especially after years have gone by where that access hasn't been guaranteed.”

Kotraiah is finishing a dual degree (B.A. Government & Politics, B.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics) and a double-minor (Asian American Studies and Secondary Education).

On campus, she’s held positions in the Student Government Association, worked as a campus tour guide and served on the President’s Commission on LGBTQIA+ Issues and Student Alumni Leadership Council. Within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, she served on the Dean’s Student Advisory Council and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect Council. She is also a member of the Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority.

“The scholarship is really validating for me in terms of what I want to do, what I have studied, what I do on campus,” she said.

D’Alonzo, who has never traveled on an airplane, said she is excited about working on an environmental case study at the summer conference with her peers.

She spent last summer collecting air samples from homes in Cheverly, as a Environmental Justice Summer Scholar at the The Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health.

“Being able to do hands-on research really cemented the necessity of every aspect of environmental justice work,” said D’Alonzo, who is double-majoring in Environmental Science & Policy and Political & Public Advocacy Communication.

D’Alonzo has been involved in a range of projects and causes on campus, including founding UMD Mutual Aid, which advocates for fellow first-generation and low-income students.

“This scholarship will help with housing and so many opportunities [including] being able to continue to work on air pollution issues while studying,” said D’Alonzo, a first-generation college student who hopes to attend law school to study environmental law when she graduates from UMD next year.

An alum of the CIVICUS Living & Learning Program, D’Alonzo works at PG Change Makers, a racial justice-centered non-profit. She’s previously interned at MaryPIRG Students and Maryland Student Climate Action Coalition and volunteered as the 100% Renewable UMD Campaign Coordinator.

A UMD student was last named a Udall Scholar in 2018 and it’s been more than a decade (2010) since two UMD students have received the award in one year.