Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is pleased to announce that high school graduates Briar Bragdon of Windsor and Sarah Caron of Boothbay Harbor are the 2013 recipients of the Maureen D. Keller Scholarship. Normally, the $1,000 award is given annually to one Maine high school senior or first-year college student majoring in science. This year, however, the scholarship selection committee declared a tie, so Bragdon and Caron have each received a $1,000 scholarship, to be used for college expenses.

Both Bragdon and Caron are are members of the National Honor Society and are alumni of the Laboratory’s 2012 BLOOM Program for high school juniors, which brings 16 students from across the state to the Laboratory each spring for four days of hands-on ocean science. Each will be pursuing college work in marine science this fall. Bragdon will attend the University of New England; Caron will enter Wheaton College.

In addition to their outstanding academic records, both awardees have a strong commitment to and experience with community involvement, as well as science. Among their many other activities, Bragdon was a junior docent volunteer at the Maine State Aquarium, a volunteer aquarium assistant at the Children’s Discovery Museum, and served as assistant director for the Windsor Elementary School Drama Club; Caron was a volunteer at Bigelow Laboratory’s National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota, volunteered at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, and has coached little league and eighth grade travel basketball. 

Bigelow Laboratory is an independent, non-profit center for global ocean research, ocean science education, and technology transfer.  A recognized leader in Maine's emerging innovation economy, the Laboratory’s research ranges from microbial oceanography to the large-scale processes that drive ocean systems and global environmental conditions. For more information about the Keller Scholarship and how to apply, visit bigelow.org/education/scholarships.