University of Pennsylvania junior Paul Lin has been selected as a Udall Scholar by the Udall Foundation, which awards scholarships of as much as $7,000 each to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment.
Lin, from Clarksville, Maryland, is pursuing a major in earth science with a concentration in environmental science and minors in computer science and Chinese in the College of Arts & Sciences. He was one of 55 Udall Scholars chosen from 48 colleges and universities from 429 candidates nominated by 199 institutions.
He is especially interested in the development of geospatial technologies for the study of vegetation and land-cover changes. Lin hopes to pursue a career in the defense sector and to research the implications of climate change on national security. He has been an intern at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. On campus, he studies leaf physiology and distributions and also volunteers to promote environmentalism in West Philadelphia schools.
Lin is the fifth recipient from Penn since the Congress established the foundation in 1992 to honor Morris and Stewart Udall and their impact on the nation's environment, public lands, and natural resources and support of the rights and self-governance of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Lin applied to the Udall Scholarship with the support of Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
