The National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc. is delighted to present scholarships to four students for the 2020-21 academic year:
Ashley Coates is in her final year of a Master of Landscape Architecture program at Virginia Tech. 
Her undergraduate college did not have a Landscape Architecture program, but she crafted a degree of environmental science with a minor in art and incorporating landscape design into her senior thesis. In graduate school, Ashley wishes to focus on the ecology of urban areas with a career goal of working for a landscape architecture firm or a local municipal government. She is currently the President of Virginia Tech’s chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Ashley hails from Alexandria, Virginia and is a graduate of George C. Marshall High School and Bridgewater College.
Another returning scholar is Julia Hakeem. Julia will continue majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish as a sophomore at George Mason University. Her research projects have concentrated on the drawbacks to human, animal and environmental health of eliminating mosquitos. Julia serves as a student leader in the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance which is focused on health disparity issues posed by climate change: water pollution, food injustice, mining and pipelines. She is from the Oakton area and graduated from James Madison High School.
Calla Reidy will begin pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies at Warren Wilson College. Her career goal is to be an environmental educator for young children. One of Calla’s many volunteer activities is to grow seedlings in her church greenhouse. Calla grew up in the Alexandria area and graduated from West Potomac High School.
Andrea Gaoat will be studying Landscape Architecture at Virginia Tech. She interned at Stantec working on a landscape design for her high school courtyard that is functional as well as “a beautiful art piece when viewed from the classrooms above.” Andrea is from the Arlington area and graduated from Wakefield High School.
