The Lackawaxen River Conservancy is pleased to announce that Michael Jacob Burkhardt, is the winner of the 2015 Scholarship for high school seniors. Michael, known to his friends as Jake, graduated from Western Wayne High School in Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania. He received his award at the Senior Assembly on June 9, 2015. The award is $500. Jake plans to attend Keystone College in La Plume, Pennsylvania, where he will major in wildlife biology.
An excellent student, Jake is a member of the National Honor Society and has been involved in Future Business Leaders of America and Envirothon as well. He has indulged his passion for the outdoors through hiking, skiing, farming, camping, and fishing on the Lackawaxen River with his dad. He has also done research at the Lacawac Sanctuary and Biological Field Station. Despite his busy schedule, Jake has worked part-time since he was in the ninth grade.
Jake is deeply concerned about global warming, and its devastating effects on all of the earth’s creatures. A troubling consequence of global warming is the rising temperature that causes ice cap melting in Antarctica. This melting causes loss of habitat for animals, particularly polar bears. “They are left stranded on melting ice with minimal food sources,” he explains in his scholarship application. “I have a keen love for animals and hate to see them in peril. This is a major concern for me….”
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