Charlotte Ely wins award named for congressman who championed environmental causes

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2005 -- San Francisco State University senior Charlotte Ely may be soft-spoken, but her voice rings loud and clear in the environmentalist community. Her dedication to the environment, volunteer work and her education has earned her a $5,000 Morris K. Udall Scholarship.

Ely, a San Francisco native who lives in the Glen Park neighborhood, is the first SFSU recipient of this award. This year, 81 scholars were selected from among 436 candidates. The Udall Foundation awards renewable, merit-based scholarships to U.S. students, like Ely, who demonstrate outstanding commitment to the environment, tribal public policy or health care.

"Charlotte is a passionate and caring student; she is very bright," said Barbara Holzman, associate professor of geography and human environmental studies. "Her passion for making change, her awareness for the uniqueness of the planet, and her willingness to work hard made her a choice candidate and an appropriate recipient of the Udall scholarship."

Morris K. Udall served in the House of Representatives for three decades and was "one of the most successful and most powerful environmental congressmen in the history of the United States," Ely said. His love for the environment resulted in numerous pieces of legislation, chief among them the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which doubled the size of the national park system and tripled the country's national wilderness.

During the application process for the scholarship, Ely left her English tutoring job to devote more time to such environmental-based organizations as the Sierra Club, Green Action, ArcEcology and Organic Consumers Association.

She now interns at Presidio National Park, where she monitors rare plants and helps restore the native habitat.