Kiera Malone (SEBS’20)
Kiera Malone (SEBS ’20), a senior in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, was awarded the 2019 Cookingham Scholarship, an annual $1,000 scholarship made possible by an endowment from Russell A. Cookingham, former Director of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. It is intended to assist qualified students in the wildlife/fisheries field or in the conservation education/communication field with college and related expenses. The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife and the NJ Chapter of The Wildlife Society partnered in the selection and award of the scholarship.
Malone, president of the Rutgers Wildlife Society Student Chapter, is pursuing a certificate in Environmental Geomatics and a minor in Fisheries. Under the supervision of Kimberly Russell, Malone is working on a George H. Cook thesis, which examines how spider community composition has changed over time.
Kiera Malone.
Malone currently helps to conduct bat research with Brooke Maslo and works with Olaf Jensen in studying anadromous fish passage. In Olaf Jensen’s lab she has studied the movement of American shad and river herring through the fish ladder at the Island Farm Weir in Bound Brook, New Jersey. Fish ladders are a type of fish passage device, which in theory are supposed to allow fish to pass dams to complete their migration. The long-term study is designed to determine the effectiveness the fish ladder as a fish passage device for migratory fish.
The Cookingham Scholarship
The Cookingham Scholarship is an annual $1000 scholarship made possible by an endowment from Russell A. Cookingham, former Director of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. It is intended to assist qualified students in the wildlife/fisheries or conservation education/communication field with college and related expenses. The Division of Fish & Wildlife and the NJ Chapter of The Wildlife Society partner in the selection and award of the scholarship.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources website.
