2026 Scholarship Recipients Announced

We are excited to announce our winners for the 2026 AltadenaWILD scholarships!  With support from the Altadena Rotary Club and an anonymous donor, we are able to award four $2000 scholarships to Altadena residents pursuing degrees and certification programs at 4-year universities in California.

Artemis Ayanna Blount recently transferred to Cal Poly Humboldt to attend the cutting-edge science Forestry Restoration program that includes indigenous land management strategies.  After graduation, she hopes to “come back to rebuild a more sustainable and resilient Altadena”.

In high school, Morgan Gaskell set up the Rubio Canyon Bird Banding Station in her neighborhood, never knowing that “I was developing a year’s worth of pre-fire data on the birds of Altadena.”  During the times she returns from UC Davis, what brings her “the most joy and hope is that individuals I had banded before the fire have returned, springtime still brings baby birds, and migratory species keep coming back despite an extremely altered landscape”.

Joanna Mitch Jacobson will be completing her UCLA Extension Certificate in Applied Horticulture and Master Beekeeping training. “Healthy urban forests depend on thriving ecosystems, and I hope to continue promoting conservation practices that strengthen biodiversity and resilience to wildfire and climate change.”

Lucien Garron Nicholls is especially interested in environmental studies, soil health, and the way healthy landscapes are built over time.  He is learning “…that long-term resilience comes from understanding how everything in a landscape is connected…. [This scholarship to attend UC Santa Cruz helps] me keep building toward a career that connects directly to the future of Altadena.”

We are proud to offer support of their interests in Altadena’s long-term recovery through their educational paths.