Hollis receives her scholarship award from SSC's Betty Olliges in 2008
Stuart, FL – Hollis Bulba, a graduate of South Fork High School, is well on her way to achieving her educational and career goals in environmental science as a result of winning a scholarship from the Stuart Sailfish Club in 2008. “Without the help of the scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go away to college,” stated Hollis.
As a high school student, Hollis learned of the Stuart Sailfish Club Scholarship through an informational packet handed out at school. In 2008 she was awarded a scholarship along with Kelly Knoth of Martin County High School and Mitchell White of Jensen Beach High School.
Today Hollis is a full-time student at Florida International University and is expected to graduate in the fall of 2012. Hollis recently switched her major to environmental science from marine biology. “I just feel that environmental science is a little more broad. It can still cover research and marine life studies,” she said.
Traveling is an exciting aspect of her educational studies. Recently, Hollis went to the Bahamas with a professor and his graduate students. She helped students with their projects by doing fieldwork and collecting samples. “So far, this is the coolest place I’ve gotten to go!” enthused Hollis.
This summer, Hollis is traveling to the Peruvian Amazon with the FIU Honors College. Students attending the trip are required to devise their own research projects. Each project must meet a service obligation to be of help or be of use to the indigenous tribes in the surrounding area.
Hollis’s project focuses on assessing some of the problems of overfishing that natives are currently experiencing. “The people are saying that every year there seems like there is less fish harvested,” she explained. “Fishing is an extremely large part of their culture, their livelihood and is a major protein source. I want to assess things like what type of fish have they noticed disappearing to gather information that would be helpful to protecting the fish during spawning and other conservation methods.”
The Stuart Sailfish Club Scholarship Program played a major role in helping Hollis reach for her dreams. Her advice to other students entering the fields of marine science is, “to study hard, make connections and get involved to gain as much experience as possible!”
