Scholarship Applications Open
NEWS RELEASE | Friends of Virgin Islands National Park is happy to announce that it is now accepting applications for the 2025/26 academic year for its two undergraduate scholarship programs: the Jeffrey Matheny Scholarship and the Noble Samuel Scholarship and Internship. Applications must be received by Monday, March 24, 2025.
Both scholarships are open to St. John and St. Thomas youth, who are currently high school seniors or undergraduates, planning to study in a field contributing to natural resource protection, or will contribute to making St. John more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Recipients receive $2,500 per semester contingent on meeting scholarship requirements.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to support young Virgin Islanders as they pursue their dreams,” says Tonia Lovejoy, Executive Director, Friends of Virgin Islands National Park. “We are committed to building a pipeline of education opportunities including our School Kids In The Park, Learn To Swim and Summer Trail Crew programs—and internships and scholarships like these.”
The two scholarship programs that the Friends manages are:
- The Noble Samuel Scholarship and Internship was created in 2021 and is inspired by the life of Noble Samuel who was a ranger in the Virgin Islands National Park known for generously sharing his love for our park with passion and humility. Recipients must be studying in a field that will contribute to making St. John more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. 2024/25 recipients of this scholarship, which is inclusive of a paid internship, are Sanaa Burke (University of Delaware), Kaj Gerard (University of Virgin Islands), Maxim McMahon (University of Virgin Islands) and Ameir Sprauve (University of Virgin Islands).
- The Jeffery Matheny Scholarship was established in 2010 by his family in recognition of Jeffery’s love of St John and supports Virgin Islands students at the university level studying fields related to natural resource management and protection. Current recipients of this scholarship for the 2024/25 academic year are Una Alexander (Howard University), Lindsay Barr (Colorado State University), Caliyah Helliger (Howard University), Lyric Vacharat (University of North Carolina Wilmington) and Dennis Bigrigg (University of Virgin Islands).
