KGASF honors the legacy of Kurt Grinnell, a Native American leader of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.
Photo: Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation.
Just two weeks after we learned the names of the last 2024 awardees, the Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation (KGASF) has now announced the first award recipient of 2025. She is Yakama Nation member, Ilene Goudy.
An Environmental Science student at Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington, according to KGASF's release, Goudy has deep family roots in the Cle Elum, Ellensburg, and Wenatchee areas of the state, and hopes to bring to the field of fisheries management, land use, and enhancement her family's "traditional eco-knowledge."
Moreover to her studies, the new awardee adds her professional experience. In addition to working as a Fisheries Technician on Coho salmon in the Methow Basin, raising Spring Chinook salmon in the Upper Yakama River Basin, and working part of the year at the Yakama Nation's Cle Elum, Washington, Hatchery, Ilene Goudy has also worked on habitat improvement and related projects in the Yakama River Basin.
A student with extensive experience in fisheries catering, Ilene Goudy is KGASF's first award recipient of 2025.
It was precisely Goudy's experience of more than a decade in fisheries restoration that, according to John Dentler, KGASF Executive Director, "made a significant impression on the members of the Scholarship Selection Committee."
"We are so pleased to see a hard worker like Ilene Goudy continue to pursue her education while at the same time doing important fisheries work for the Yakama Nation," added KGASF Board Chair and head of the Selection Committee, Jaiden Grinnell Bosick. "We are confident that Ilene Goudy will make a significant contribution to the management and conservation of natural resources so important to her Tribe and the surrounding community."
Grinnell Bosick is one of two daughters of the late Kurt Grinnell. The non-profit organization bearing his name was created in 2022 to carry on his legacy, after his passing away the previous year. A Native American leader of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington state, he was a strong advocate for Tribal food security and sovereignty, recognizing that aquaculture - whether shellfish, finfish, or plants such as algae - could be a solution to both, Tribal food security and Indigenous reconciliation and wellbeing.
To that end, the Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation provides financial assistance to Tribal and First Nations students pursuing careers in aquaculture and natural resources. Currently, scholarships are awarded year-round, provided a good candidate applies. Interested parties can find more information on KGASF's website.