2025 Mary Majka Scholarship Recipients

Nature NB and the Mary Majka Scholarship Fund committee are pleased to announce the three winners of this year’s Mary Majka Scholarship, awarded to students at any stage of their education who will be pursuing projects and programs in the realms of environmental science, conservation, biology, or other subjects that seek to better understand and protect our natural world. The awards were announced at Nature NB’s Annual General Meeting, held at the Rodd Miramichi River Hotel on June 6, 2025.

The Mary Majka Scholarship Fund was created in June of 2014 to honour the legacy of Mary Majka, one of Nature NB’s founding members and its President from 1980-84. The Fund’s purpose is to further youth engagement with nature and our natural heritage, one of Mary’s primary interests.

Three types of scholarship are offered:

• Category 1 is open to high school graduates about to start post-secondary studies in the field of natural sciences with an interest in nature and the environment. This would be conveyed as a study scholarship.

• Category 2 is available to post-secondary students already enrolled in the field of natural sciences with an interest in nature and the environment. This would also be conveyed as a study scholarship.

• Category 3 could be awarded to students in middle or high school wanting to further their knowledge in the natural sciences and would be given as a contribution to cover specific expenses such as a special project, study course or participation in a workshop.

Thirty-one students applied by the March 2025 deadline. The Committee met in late May to review and evaluate the applications and determine the awards that might be possible, given the quality of the applications.

The Committee recommended that, in Category 1, $1,000 study scholarships be awarded in 2025 to Grey Watts of Saint John and to Ethan Boudreau of Moncton, and that in Category 2, a $1,000 study scholarship be awarded to Sydney Gahan, enrolled at the University of New Brunswick.

	Grey Watts Grey Watts will graduate from Harbour View High School this June and begin her studies at Acadia University in the fall for a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science. Grey’s growing passion for the environment inspired her to take a co-op placement with ACAP SJ, which then led her to pursue environmental studies. Grey’s career goals are to work with water conservation and educate others about restoration and sustainability.
	Ethan Boudreau Ethan Boudreau is graduating from Harrison Trimble High School in Moncton and will begin at the University of Guelph this fall, pursuing a Bachelor of Science Coop & Honours program in Marine & Freshwater Biology. From a young age, Ethan has had an incredible interest in aquatic ecosystems and marine life and after completing a Co-op program this year with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, his desire strengthened to engage in a career that not only gathers research on this aspect of the environment but also works to create policies that protect our natural environments and everything within them. Ethan is looking forward to working in a role that allows him to focus on preservation and protection of species within our surrounding environments.”
	Sydney Gahan Sydney Gahan is entering into her third year at the University of New Brunswick, majoring in biology. In the fall of 2025, she plans to complete UNB’s marine block program to prepare for my honours research project in her 4th year. She is interested in conservation and hopes to pursue my honours research focusing on marine ecosystems. She is very honoured to receive this scholarship!

Nature NB is proud to support Grey, Ethan, and Sydney in their studies and congratulates them on their accomplishments to date.

Donations to the Mary Majka Scholarship Fund can be made online, by cheque, or in-person through the Nature NB office at 61 Carleton Street, Suite 3, Fredericton NB, E3B 3T2. More information is available here.

Nature NB is a New Brunswick non-profit, charitable organization and charitable receipts are issued.