2016 Carnegie Junior Research Fellow – Bert Thompson (Fellows Class of 2016) Bert Thompson was awarded a Carnegie Junior Research Fellowship, becoming one of just 14 young scholars from across the nation to join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a research assistant. His fellowship will center on nuclear nonproliferation, a subject that has surrounded his coursework and experiential learning at UGA. Bert, who graduated in May with a double major in international affairs and history, worked as a research intern at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Washington, DC, and studied at the Hertog War Studies Program in DC, the Center for the Study of Global Issues in Verona, Italy, and at Oxford University through the UGA at Oxford program. He also served as a Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Scholar at UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security and as then-Congressman Jack Kingston’s military legislative intern at the U.S. Capitol. Bert has served as a Student Government Association executive cabinet member, a student advisory board member for the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, a student athletic representative for the UGA Athletic Association board of directors, a member of the Arch Society, assistant senior editor of Georgia Political Review and as an Honors Program teaching assistant.
2016 Udall Scholar – Jonah Driggers (Fellows Class of 2017) Jonah Driggers is the ninth UGA student to be awarded the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholarship in the past six years. The scholarships of up to $7,000 are awarded annually to outstanding sophomores and juniors pursuing careers related to environmental or Native American public policy. He is one of 60 Udall Scholars nationwide chosen from nearly 500 nominees. Jonah is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in geography and a combined master’s degree in conservation ecology. Following his graduation, he plans to pursue a Juris Doctor to fulfill his career aspiration of working as a policy leader to help the U.S. transition to clean energy. An avid outdoorsman and Eagle Scout, Jonah has explored his passion for environmental policy as director of the Center for Energy and the Environment, which is part of the UGA chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a student-run think tank. He is a founder and co-executive director of The Energy Concept, an organization that stimulates discussion of interdisciplinary energy strategies, and he served as an intern in the Office of Climate Preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Jonah has participated in several research projects through the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities and also as a graduate student researcher at the UGA River Basin Center and in the lab of Meigs Professor James Porter. He is the head gardener for the Lunchbox Garden Project, a student-led organization that aims to educate schoolchildren about gardening, nutrition, and environmental issues.
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Foundation Fellows & R a m se y Honor s S chol ar s A nnual R ep ort