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NJSWEP Scholarship Recipients

NJSWEP congratulates all our Scholarship recipients and looks forward to their participation in our organization and their contributions to the environmental field.  We encourage any student interested in the Scholarship Program to apply for future awards.

2023 Scholarship Award Recipients

Danielle Bongiovanni (2023 Undergraduate Recipient) is a rising senior at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Environmental Studies. Her passion for conservation is matched by her interest in writing. Danielle has been an active member of The Ramapo News throughout her college career, and will serve as the editor-in-chief during the upcoming semester. She hopes to use her skills to support sustainable development that strengthens people's ties to their local resources.

Bridget McDevitt (2023 Undergraduate Recipient) is a rising senior at Rowan University pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering along with a double minor in Geography and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. With an early love for science, Bridget found her passion for the environment through her hobbies of gardening, hiking, and reading. Now, Bridget currently works on a DOE-funded research project that explores biological techniques to preserve the resiliency of Arctic ecosystems from permafrost thaw. Also, she has researched natural soil-stabilization methods to offset the use of concrete. Bridget plans on continuing her education at the graduate level upon graduation. Bridget’s life-long goal is to develop sustainable solutions for challenging problems to uphold the integrity of society and the environment that it depends on.

Genevieve Ehasz (2023 Graduate Recipient) is a recent Rutgers University graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Spanish. She will continue her education at Rutgers University for the combined B.S./M.S. 4+1 Master’s program in Bioenvironmental Engineering. Her undergraduate research primarily focused on water quality and wastewater-based epidemiology. Recently, she completed a senior thesis titled “Detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants in wastewater by multiplex qPCR” which earned first place in the New Jersey Water Environment Association student poster competition. This summer she will continue working on a microbial source tracking project to identify sources of contamination along the Raritan River. Genevieve is looking forward to expanding her research and knowledge into different fields of environmental engineering. Afterwards, she hopes to pursue a career where she can expand environmental remediation to underserved communities in the US and abroad. Genevieve enjoys nature, traveling, music, and spending time with her friends, family and pets. 
Kathleen Song (2023 Graduate Recipient) is an incoming graduate student pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She was selected as a Graduate Fellow at Princeton University, which involves two years of work rotations in the US federal government. After completing her graduate degree, she intends to continue her pursuit of a career in environmental protection in the federal government. Kathleen recently earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. She has received the following recognitions: election to the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society, selection as National Scholar, recipient of the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence, and the recipient of the Daniel E. Bigler Award awarded by the NJWEA. She is also a Rhodes Scholarship Finalist. Kathleen has worked as a research assistant for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and in 2022 she interned at the US Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division as a legal research intern in the Environmental Enforcement Section. She has also volunteered with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby where she organized for bipartisan carbon pricing legislation and conducted research with Princeton University’s Urban Nexus Lab, the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, and UCLA’s Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering. Kathleen is originally from Orange County, California.

2022 Scholarship Award Recipients

Jaquelyn Cook (2022 Undergraduate Recipient) is a sophomore at Rider University pursuing a degree in Environmental Science. Her occupational objective once she graduates is to become a hydrologist, working to provide clean water to large communities. She has recently worked with a professor to research the rising sodium levels in the Delaware River Watershed, which connects to her campus watershed. She looks forward to continuing and expanding her research next semester as she continues to learn more about Environmental Science.


Emily Zembricki (2022 Undergraduate Recipient) is a senior at Stockton University pursuing a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science and Sustainability as well as a minor in behavioral neuroscience. After completing her undergraduate degree, Emily plans on continuing her education and earning a Ph.D. in Biopsychology. In graduate school, she anticipates studying the psychological impacts of captivity on orca whales so that she can advocate for the improved treatment of orcas that remain in marine parks. Emily carried out research at Rutgers University where she examined how increasing humpback whale presence has impacted shifting krill dominance in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). After constructing and overlaying time series of humpback whale sightings, krill densities, and corresponding sea ice coverage data, she found that rising numbers of humpback whales in the WAP between 1993 and 1998 reinforced shifts in the dominant krill species from Euphausia superba to Thysanoessaspp., which could have serious implications on the structure of food webs in the greater Antarctic region in the near future. This experience allowed Emily to work with whales for the first time and break into the research field at a professional level, which she hopes to continue contributing to going into graduate school and in her career.