Caleigh Cleary started thinking about college in middle school. By high school, she had her whole college career planned out. She knew she wanted to attend UW-Green Bay and she knew what she wanted to study. Moreover, she knew she wanted to make the most of it. Now in her fourth year majoring in Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering Tech, she’s been able to participate in wild rice research, work with the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) and take a semester to study in Alaska. Now she’s looking forward to gaining intern experience in her final year.

Her goals were made possible thanks to the support of scholarship donors. This year, Caleigh earned the Carol R. De Groot Endowed Scholarship in Environmental Science and the Barbara and Benjamin Cruz-Uribe Family Endowed Award for the Study of Environmental Issues. “It eased a lot of worries,” she said, adding that having scholarship funding allowed her to pursue research opportunities without as much financial strain; “It has 100% lightened my load.”