White Wins UW’s 2025 Stewart Family Serviceship Award

Sabrina White, a third-year Ph.D. student from Orlando, Fla., in the Program in Ecology at the University of Wyoming, is the recipient of the 2025 Stewart Family Serviceship Award. She will receive $5,000 for her transformative “Bee the Scientist” program that brings cutting-edge scientific engagement directly to Wyoming’s senior communities.

The serviceship award is funded by the Stewart family in honor of their late parents, Clyde and Jerrine Stewart, of Sheridan, who served as daily examples of “people immersed in family, community and work.” The couple helped to address community needs and real-world challenges. The award continues their legacy by supporting students working on their own applied community service projects that address needs and challenges on a local, state, national or global level.

The program, which targets Wyoming seniors, an often underrepresented demographic, has already made significant strides in scientific literacy and pollinator conservation. During its inaugural summer in 2024, the initiative reached 149 participants across eight Wyoming counties, challenging traditional notions of who can participate in scientific discovery.

“We are breaking down barriers between scientific research and community understanding,” says White, whose background in entomology and passion for pollinator conservation drives the program. “Senior centers are an incredibly engaged and an important community that has been largely ignored in scientific outreach efforts.”

The Bee the Scientist program is anything but traditional. Participants engage in a dynamic, interactive workshop that includes building bee houses to support local pollinator populations; creating wildflower seed bombs using local Wyoming wildflower seeds; and constructing Arduino-based weather stations that introduce participants to newer technology. All materials are provided free to participants.

What sets this program apart is its holistic approach to scientific engagement. White hopes to directly impact conservation efforts and scientific understanding across generations.

The Stewart Family Serviceship Award will fund supplies for 75 additional participants and expand the program to more senior centers and Master Gardener clubs this summer. The funding also will support White’s research, which will document the program’s impact as a chapter in her doctoral thesis.

The program already has shown remarkable success, with participants expressing renewed excitement about science and technology. Many have expressed interest in continuing to learn and even sharing their new knowledge with grandchildren.

“This isn’t just about bees,” White says. “It’s about breaking down perceived barriers to scientific understanding and showing that curiosity knows no age limit.”

Jean Garrison, chair of the Stewart Service Award Committee and a professor of political science and international studies at UW, says Bee the Scientist is an innovative program that, through Stewart Award funding, will expand its reach across Wyoming.

“This program embodies the best elements of UW’s Science Initiative outreach and engagement practices and UW’s land-grant mission to be of service to our state -- and it just looks like a lot of fun as well,” she adds.

To learn more about the Stewart Family Serviceship Award, email Garrison at garrison@uwyo.edu.