Allamakee Soil & Water Conservation District announces scholarship winner

Officials with the Allamakee Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) announce that Olivia Marti of Waukon has been selected as the 2024 Second-Place State Scholarship winner by the nine Regional Directors of the Conservation Districts of Iowa (CDI). She will receive $2,000 to assist with her future academic expenses.

Marti, a senior at Waukon High School, is among the special group of young Iowa high school graduates who earn a well-deserved “thank you” for making natural resources and/or agriculture their higher education goal. CDI and local Iowa SWCDs award scholarships to seniors in each of the nine Iowa conservation district regions who demonstrate leadership and scholastic achievement, and who aim for careers in conservation-related fields.

In her scholarship application submitted by the Allamakee SWCD to CDI, Marti was evaluated with other participants on a point system: 20 points for ‘involvement, leadership and character’; 20 points for ‘career’; 30 points for ‘scholastic achievement’; and 30 points for ‘conservation message’ - including a personal essay where applicants answer the question: “What does soil and water conservation mean to you?”

The scholarships are funded by Iowa SWCDs, with finalists selected by a committee of CDI leadership and Regional Directors. After final selections, the top three scholarships are awarded at the state level in the amounts of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000. Winners from the remaining six regions each receive $500. Today, Iowa has 500 locally elected commissioners - five for every district in Iowa, serving in 100 SWCDs (two in Pottawattamie County) - that work together to implement critical projects, urban and rural, that promote soil health and water quality at a time when these vital resources continue to be threatened.