Scholarships, Awards, and Funding

Terence Freitas, a biology and environmental studies major, dedicated himself to facilitating the vision of Native groups working to build a sustainable future in harmony with their own values and cultures. In February 1999, while working with the U’wa, a Colombian Indigenous group, to establish a culturally appropriate school, Terry and two other Americans were kidnapped and killed. This award was established in his honor. 

Richard A. Cooley was the founder of the UC Santa Cruz Environmental Studies Program. A native of Silver City, New Mexico, he graduated from the University of New Mexico, University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan, where he received his doctorate in resource conservation. Before coming to Santa Cruz, he taught in the Geography Department at the University of Washington.

Dr. Cooley came to UC Santa Cruz in 1970 to start the Environmental Studies Program. A strong advocate of field studies, he initiated the Alaska Field Studies Program at the same time. He wrote numerous books and articles on natural resource conservation, public policy, and environmental studies.

Dr. Cooley’s 1963 book Politics and Conservation: The Decline of the Alaska Salmon is still used in the program today. He was a gifted teacher, and many of his former students are now in key positions in conservation work, particularly in Alaska. He retired from teaching in 1991 and passed away in November 1994 at the age of 69.

Dr. Cooley’s work on conservation issues in Alaska, especially the international protection of the polar bear, was especially influential. He was a respected public policy researcher, appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Federal Marine Mammal Commission from 1974 to 1977. Prior to that appointment and during his career at UC Santa Cruz, he worked with the Alaska Territorial Conservation Organization and as director of the Alaska Natural Resource Center operated by the Conservation Foundation. He served for many years on the Joint Federal-State Land Use Commission.

Other accomplishments included serving on editorial boards of scholarly journals, advising a wide array of government and private conservation organizations, and consulting on the development of environmental studies programs throughout the country, as well as being an accomplished sculptor whose works were exhibited in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and California.

The Richard A. Cooley Memorial Endowment was initially funded by the Friends Foundation International, a group comprised of eight UCSC alumni: Dean Alper, John Razz Cohn, Eric Dazey, Michael Freund, Ken Hart, James Skye Leone, David Paul, and Glen Price. They met in 1975 in an Environmental Studies class, ‘The Political Economy of Ecology.’ Shortly after a reunion in 1990, they decided to honor Richard A. Cooley, the founder and first chair of the program.

The Friends shared his commitment of moving students from the classroom to the community and natural lands as a critical part of their environmental education, and they funded the award from 1991 to 1994 to offset the costs of fieldwork for students. Upon Dr. Cooley’s death in 1994, the Friends Foundation gave a $2,400 challenge grant to the Environmental Studies Department to ensure the continuation of the award. Their challenge was more than matched by various donors.

James Stuart Chanley was born on April 19, 1970, the youngest of three children. He was an early graduate from high school, and throughout his life he was very spontaneous, energetic, idealistic, and in love with life. Brief stints in junior college and the Marines revealed to him that he was looking for a place to pursue his blossoming interest in humanitarian and environmental issues. He joined the California Conservation Corps and spent 18 months learning the fundamentals of habitat preservation and wildlife conservation. He enjoyed the companionship of others who were of the same philosophical leanings. 

Eventually he decided to pursue his environmental interests academically and moved to Santa Cruz to attend Cabrillo College. While working full time and attending school, he also found the inspiration and energy to earn a letter in cross-country track, inspire others to become involved in humanitarian causes, and become involved in assisting the homeless people of Santa Cruz. He was 22 years old and had been accepted into the environmental studies program at UC Santa Cruz for the next fall quarter when he was killed in a motorcycle accident on Jan. 8, 1993. 

It is his family’s desire that his energy, vitality, and care for others be perpetuated through others who share his interests. With this desire in mind, his mother Valerie Anne Lovett, his sister Beverly Chanley, and his brother Stephen Chanley established the James Stuart Chanley Scholarship in April 1993.

Local business CONCUR, Inc. was founded in 1987 by environmental studies alumni John K. Gamman and Scott T. McCreary. CONCUR, Inc. specializes in combining environmental policy analysis with facilitation and mediation skills to resolve complex disputes involving scarce or limited natural resources. 

David Gaines, a 1969 UC Santa Cruz Crown College graduate, was an expert in ecology and environmental advocacy. He devoted the last 10 years of his life to raising awareness of the importance of Mono Lake, working on the complex problem of meeting the water needs of both Los Angeles and the lake. David formed the Mono Lake Committee (MLC) in 1978 after being appalled by the condition of Mono Lake, which continued to deteriorate after the 1941 diversion of the tributary streams to the Los Angeles Basin. The group talked to conservation clubs, schools, service organizations, legislators, and lawyers about the value of this high desert lake. Under David’s leadership, the Mono Lake Committee grew to 20,000 members and gained legal and legislative recognition for Mono Lake.

David and an MLC staff volunteer, Don Oberlin, were killed in a winter automobile accident near Lee Vining in 1988. Despite the loss of its founder, the citizens’ action group has continued to lead the fight to protect Mono Lake. It joined with the National Audubon Society to bring suit to save the lake, and in 1983 the California Supreme Court agreed that the “public trust doctrine” required LADWP to limit water diversions. In 1994 the State set minimum flow limits on streams running into the lake, mandated a minimum lake level, and required habitat restoration.

Long before he became a spokesman for the environment, David was an active California birder. He was birding the entire state by the late ‘60s, first appearing in the southern California pages of Audubon Field Notes in winter 1966–67, and in those for northern California in fall 1967. In 1974, David inventoried the natural areas of the Mono Basin. He was a superior field observer, and his interests in California birdlife extended well beyond the Mono Basin. Most of all, David loved Yosemite National Park, and he published two classic books on the birds of Yosemite that also covered the Mono Basin in detail. David was also a teacher, mentor, musician, and poet. His texts were enlivened with his spirit and appreciation for all of nature. The David Gaines Award was created by his Aunt, Grace Jacobs, to honor his memory.

1. A completed cover sheet including funding support to date 
2. A 2-page description of the proposed project which includes: a personal statement summarizing your academic situation, with particular attention to how support from the Hammett Award would benefit your progress; a clear statement of the research being conducted, including your research questions and goals, and a brief description of your basic approaches; how your project specifically meets the criteria listed above and, in particular, what each of the two participating faculty will contribute to your research. Please use 11-point or larger font, and 1-inch margins.
3. Letters of reference from the two faculty contributing to your project, including a description of their contributions to this project. Letters should be sent by separate email to envsgpc@ucsc.edu.
4. A CV that includes the following sections: academic history; awards, grants, and honors; public talks; publications; teaching experiences; and public service activities. 
   
   Upload all files as PDFs and make sure your name clearly appears on the first page of all uploads. Incomplete applications will not be considered.