Cal Poly BRAE Students Receive Scholarship from Mid-Pacific Region Water Users Conference

SAN LUIS OBISPO – On Friday, January 25, 2013, three Cal Poly BioResource and Agricultural Engineering (BRAE) students were awarded multi-year scholarships during the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference (WUC) in Reno, NV. BRAE students Brandon Downing, Kerilyn Ambrosini, and Matt Moore are the 2013 recipients of the annual award, which consists of an initial award of $2,500, followed by two annual awards of $1,000 each year on the condition that the student maintains a 3.0 GPA. This generous contribution by WUC is exclusively available to Cal Poly students majoring in BRAE. Cal Poly’s Irrigation Training and Research Center’s (ITRC) staff select one recipient per year based on grades, leadership and merit. ITRC Director Dr. Stuart Styles serves as an advisor to the scholarship selection committee.

Brandon Downing was first awarded the initial scholarship in 2010, and has since maintained a 3.2 cumulative GPA while also staying involved with Cal Poly’s Agricultural Engineers Society (AES). He has worked for Nikkel Bros. Farms in Bakersfield, interned for the Solano Irrigation District as an Agricultural Water Conservation Intern and worked for the ITRC’s drip evaluation team this past summer. Kerilyn Ambrosini, the 2011 scholarship recipient, maintains a 3.7 cumulative GPA and contributes time as the philanthropy committee chair for AES. She is employed at the ITRC as a student engineering employee. Both students plan to enter the agriculture water engineering field upon graduation. Matthew Moore is BRAE student who has maintained a 3.1 cumulative GPA while being actively involved with Cal Poly’s Agricultural Engineering Society (AES) and American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers(ASABE); he has served as the 2011 ASABE National Representative and will be the 2012 ASABE Vice President. Matthew is currently employed by the ITRC and plans to enter the agricultural engineering field focusing on water after graduation. 

All three students accepted the scholarship and said a few words of gratitude to the conference participants on Friday. The WUC is an annual conference attended by managers, directors, operation and maintenance personnel, consultants, and government agency representatives from districts served by the United States Bureau of Reclamation facilities in California, Nevada, and Oregon. The Mid-Pacific Region of the Bureau of Reclamation manages one of the largest water storage and conveyance systems in the world, which is made up of 20 dams and reservoirs.  This year’s Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference  was attended by over 200 irrigation district managers, board members and USBR staff.  The scholarships are funded by contributions from conference dues. 

For information on how to apply for the Mid-Pacific Region Water Users Conference Scholarship, contact Stuart Styles by phone (805.756.2429) or by email (sstyles@calpoly.edu).