Announcing our 2025 Scholarship Winner!

It is the Shasta Chapter CNPS’ great honor to announce this year’s highly deserving scholarship recipient: Ellery DeArton

Out of this year’s extremely qualified field of applicants, Ellery was unanimously scored as the top contender by each of the six members on our scholarship committee. Ellery lives in Mount Shasta and is just now finishing her senior year at Mount Shasta High School, with a GPA of 4.28. During her high school career, she completed six AP (Advanced Placement) classes and three college courses, consistently earning recognition on the highest honor roll every year. Ellery is excited to be heading to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo this fall, to major in Forest and Fire Sciences.

Not only has Ellery distinguished herself academically, but she also holds an impressive record in athletics, having competed at the varsity level in soccer, basketball, track & field, ski team, and cross country. She also competed in cross-country mountain bike racing, with the Redding Composite Mountain Bike Team, for three years.

Ellery after a mountain bike ride. M. Towner. — Ellery De Arton, on the Everitt Memorial Highway in Mt Shasta, after a very rainy mountain bike ride in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Photo taken in November 2024, by Maddie Towner.

Community service is yet another area to which Ellery has devoted hundreds of hours, through Rotary’s Interact Club, not only locally in her own community, but also abroad, in Panama and Mexico.

And as if that’s not enough, Ellery spent two summers with the U.S. Forest Service Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)—one of which as a crew captain—working on projects such as invasive-species eradication, meadow restoration, and trail maintenance. It was these YCC experiences that cinched Ellery’s decision to pursue a career in the conservation of our wild places.

Ellery's crew pulling thistle. S. Dondelinger. — Ellery’s Forest Service Youth Conservation Corps crew (Ellery is in the center, in the blue helmet) removing invasive musk thistle, *Carduus nutans,* from a trail system in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, by bagging the heads of the plants and pulling the rest. Ellery notes that these thistles were giant that year, with many over six feet tall! Photo taken by Sarah Dondelinger on June 27, 2023.

Shasta Chapter CNPS is delighted to be able to help Ellery on her way, by awarding her our $2,000 Plant Biology Scholarship. Our heartiest congratulations to Ellery! Shasta Chapter CNPS wishes her the best of luck in her studies and career.

Ellery's crew removing a tree. M. Hanelt. — Ellery’s YCC crew doing some meadow restoration and fuels management work in the forest east of McCloud. They were removing small trees to allow other plants to fill in. Ellery is the one in the blue helmet, crouched at the base of the tree. Phtoto taken on July 5, 2023, by Matt Hanelt.

As you may be aware, we always invite our scholarship recipients to join us at our June Chapter picnic, and Ellery expects that she can attend! Please join us on June 21 (please see details here: President’s Message, June 2025) to meet this outstanding scholarship recipient!
-Don Burk, Scholarship Committee Chair