Amy adds to accolades

Members of the trust recently formally awarded her the scholarship, which is given to students undertaking studies relating to environmental management and/or planning.

The Bachelor of Science with Honours student, who majored in Environmental Science, is working on helping to protect the environment from pollution through a project on "the influence of nitrate concentrations on the reductive dissolution of phosphorus from soils under anaerobic conditions".

"More simply put, it's about phosphorus loss from waterlogged soils," she said.

Amy also currently has a DairyNZ Scholarship and a JMH Tripp Agricultural Scholarship on her resume, both recognising leadership and her intention to work in the primary sector.

Amy grew up on a dairy farm and has a passion for farming.

Her Dairy NZ Scholarship profile described how she wanted to use her passion for the environment, science and agriculture to benefit farmers "so they can understand their environmental impacts and utilise management practices to minimise these impacts”.

"In my experience, farmers try hard to reduce their environmental impact, as they love farming and want to look after the land, water, and animals. I want to be a person who bridges the gap between farmers and environmentally sustainable farming."

She has also won a Gold award from Lincoln, in recognition of her work in the community.

"I have been a leader for the Lincoln Brownie unit for three-and-a-half years. I am also involved in Rovers, the section of Scouts Aotearoa for young people aged 18-26 years," she said.

"We do a lot of service within scouting and to the wider community through tree planting, working bees, fundraisers and running events."

Amy was a co-founder of the Lincoln Student Volunteer Army, as well as a campus class representative, and Vice-President of the Soil Society.

She said together, the scholarships covered her university fees and enabled her to spend more of her time volunteering.

"Volunteering is incredibly rewarding, and I’ve gained many skills and friends through it."

Image: Amy with the Southern Environmental Trust members outside Ivey Hall. Back left, Alan McKinnon, Athol McCully, front left, Diane Peterson, Amy, Shirley Harris.