As we spring into our first 2025 Clean Energy games, let’s take a quick moment to reflect on everything the Clean Energy Scholarship achieved in 2024, supporting college undergraduates from our partner schools.
Every year, we select two students from each of our partnered schools for an opportunity to earn a scholarship based on their academic focus and their future professional lives relating to clean, renewable energy and climate. Then, to crown the lucky winner, selected students compete in a final competition. In 2024, we added a hockey shootout at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the first time ever. The winner then takes home the $5,000 Clean Energy Scholarship prize.
Our partnered schools:
Meet our 2024 contestants:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Our runner-up, Britta, is an Environmental Studies and Science Communication major. Throughout Britta’s college career, she has been focused on work, clubs, and classes centered around the environment. Immersing herself in her education and working towards a better future for our planet and human health drives Britta to stay involved and share the importance of renewable energy.
Hannah, our winner, is a Spanish and Environmental Studies major at UW. She serves on the Student Sustainability Advisory Council, where she worked with campus administrators to create a group of sustainability goals, including 100% renewable electricity and motives towards zero emissions. Hannah’s mission is to change the way society interacts with the environment to keep it clean for future generations.
University of Minnesota
Runner-up, Tim, is an Environmental Engineering major at the U of M. Tim serves as the director of the sustainability committee on the UMN Science and Engineering Student Board. The committee works to plan events and initiatives to make the UMN campus more sustainable.
Our winner, Michael, an Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics major, devoted two years of his undergraduate career to the U of M Solar Vehicle project. As a result of Michael’s experiences, he aspires to leverage the skills he’s acquired to contribute to the design of a cleaner more sustainable future in transportation.
University of Nebraska-Omaha
Abigail, our runner-up, attends UNO as a Political Science and International Studies major with a minor in Sustainability. Additionally, she spends time helping out the Maverick Food Pantry, an on-campus resource for anyone in need. Correspondingly, Abigail consciously makes an effort to minimize food waste by gardening, composting, and scrappy cooking.
Claire, a Kinesiology major attending UNO, took home the $5,000 Clean Energy Scholarship. Claire is our first-time winner at the UNO and first-time winner of the hockey shootout. Throughout Claire’s experience, dance has played a significant role in her life. She was able to carry her passion for dance into college as a member of the Omaha dance team. As a result of her involvement in dance, Claire has discovered the heavy reliance on textiles within the art form. Therefore, Claire is proud to be a part of a dance community that places importance on the reuse, donation, or resell of their uniforms and costumes.
Creighton University
Our runner-up, Clara, is a student at The University of Creighton studying Sustainability. Clara grew up in a household that prioritized sustainable living. Arriving on campus as a freshman, she picked up where she left off by continuing to practice sustainability through recycling and composting. Clara’s efforts toward sustainability led her to develop a passion for teaching her friends how to do the same. Now, Clara serves as the president of the Greenjays, an on-campus club, where she has the opportunity to bring students who are passionate about sustainability and the environment together.
Our winner of the Clean Energy Scholarship, Ben, is a double major in Environmental Science and Sustainability. Currently, Ben is orchestrating a sustainability project through a program at Creighton called Energy Madness. Specifically, the event focuses on encouraging students in on-campus dorms to compete to reduce their energy consumption during March, as a play on March Madness. So, the goal is for students to learn energy conservation practices and integrate them into their lives after the competition ends.
University of Utah State
Heather, the runner-up of our annual Clean Energy Scholarship, takes pride in being able to contribute to the field of research regarding the environment’s cleanliness. Furthermore, as a biochemistry major, Heather spends time volunteering for the environmental chemistry lab where she aids the graduate students who are studying organic contaminants in the environment. Heather claims, “As we learn more about different contaminants we can make informed decisions about how to keep the environment clean.”
Our winner, Mary, is an Environmental Engineering major at Utah State. Mary serves in the USU Sustainability Club’s presidency, where students are provided opportunities to learn about green energy and sustainability. As a result of her studies, Mary plans on working to help increase the amount of clean energy used around the country, specifically within individual residential homes through the implementation of Green Infrastructure.
Our contestants blew us away with their sustainability efforts. We want to give a massive thank you to everyone who applied for the Everlight Solar Clean Energy Scholarship! Certainly, everyone’s efforts to create a better planet are not going unnoticed.
Show the world your passion for sustainability! Apply now for the 2025 Clean Energy Scholarship and take your next step toward a brighter future. Don’t wait—click here to start your journey!
