Student Awards and Honors
Outstanding Seniors
Criminology and Investigations
Abigail D. McDonald will graduate summa cum laude from WVU in May 2008. She has received the WVU President’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the President George W. Bush’s Volunteer Service Award. Abigail received an internship with the US Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services organization, as well as with the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office. She has studied abroad in Vietnam and Cambodia, served as an adventure West Virginia leader, and participates in a number of clubs and organizations. Abigail serves as a teaching assistant to faculty in the Division of Sociology and Anthropology. Her plans for the future involve attending graduate school to pursue a doctoral degree.
Sociology/Anthropology
Jessica E. Young is double majoring in sociology and anthropology (emphasis in anthropology) and history. Jessica’s coursework consistently demonstrates her desire to extend herself, from creating her own internship with the Huntington Museum where she taught herself how to inventory and classify archaeological and historical materials, to her anthropology capstone doing fieldwork in Romania where she took the initiative to learn more about that region of the world. Jessica has distinguished herself in the history program as well. She is a 4-H mentor and judge and a member of the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Association.
Scholarship Awards
David M. Amrine
David is a double major in geology and sociology/anthropology. In the summer or 2005, he participated in a survey expedition in Mongolia with the Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads. He is working on a project with the USDA Forest Service involving Hemlock Woody Adelgrid. In 2001-2003, he went on a religious mission with the Church of Latter Day Saints at the California San Fernando Mission. Upon graduation, David plans to pursue a doctorial degree in paleontology and specialize in terrestrial fossils of the Silurian to the Devionan ages.
Jessica R. Morning
Jessica Morning is a forensic biology major with a minor in anthropology. She is the recipient of the Mountianeer Scholarship and the National Art Honors Society Medal of Community Service. Jessica serves as a member of Beta Beta Beta, the National Speleological Society, and acts as vice president foe Students United for the Separation of Church and State. Additionally, she is a member of the WVU Student Grotto, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and the Forensic Club. Jessica participated in the forensic anthropology summer internship at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. Following graduation, she will enroll in a master’s or doctoral degree program in forensic anthropology.
Endowed Scholarships and Fellowships
Recipient: Jessica E. Young
This award was established by Mary Heironimus, as alumna of WVU, in honor of her tenth grade history teacher, Ethel Roberts. Miss Roberts taught a Perry High School in Pittsburgh in the late 1940s. Mrs. Heironimus credits her “life-long interest in and passionate love for history which has enriched her life immeasurably” to the influence of Miss Roberts, who was also a graduate of WVU.