A Mississippi State forest resources management major is among some 80 university and college students receiving national scholarships that memorialize a leading environmentalist.

Senior Amanda L. Grau of Marion, Ky., is a 2001 Morris K. Udall Foundation Fellow. The $5,000 fellowship will support her further study of the environment and related fields.

Grau is the second MSU student in as many years to receive the honor. Last year, forestry major William H. Howell of Davenport, Iowa, was a selection for the fellows program.

Congress created the Udall Foundation in 1992 to honor the former United States representative from Arizona who served 1961–91. As chair of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, "Mo" Udall led efforts to double the size of the national park system and triple the size of the national wilderness system. He resigned from public office after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and died in 1998.

Grau is a 1998 graduate of Crittenden County High School, where she maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. At MSU, she is a National Merit Scholar, Sharp Academic Excellence Scholar and President's Scholar.

Her campus activities include the Golden Key Honor Society, Society of American Foresters and the MSU Forestry Club, among others.

Following her May 2002 graduation from MSU, she plans to pursue a master's degree, then work in the area of natural resources management education.

"Throughout my professional career, my goal will be to improve the relationship between the corporation and the public," Grau said. "By listening to individual concerns and bringing them back to the forestry industry, I will be in a position to educate professional foresters on issues of which they should be aware."