Jenna Schweiss, a sophomore fisheries and wildlife major from South Dakota, is the first recipient of the newly established William L. Baxter Scholarship. The scholarship was created in honor of the donor's late father, who passed away in 2007.
"My father spent his entire life and career dedicated to wildlife management," said Bill Baxter. "When looking at several ways to continue to his work and legacy, my family and I felt it would be quite important to establish a scholarship in the same areas of his lifelong interest at UNL, his alma mater."
After graduating from the university, Baxter went on to a storied 37-year career as a wildlife biologist at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. He was a lifelong advocate for wildlife and habitat management.
"Throughout my lifetime, my fondest memories of time spent with my father are those where we could experience his expertise and management practices that he employed on our 320-acre Saline County farm," Bill said.
The family farm, located near Tobias, Nebraska, was always a kind of "outdoor laboratory," Bill said. Since 2007, more than 70 kids have visited the farm to engage with nature through hunting and wildlife management activities.
"Dad wanted the farm to be an outdoor workshop," Bill said.
That passion for the outdoors is something Schweiss has felt since childhood.
"I was very fortunate to grow up in a family that supported an outdoors lifestyle," she said. "When I was younger, I was always outside simply because I enjoyed it."
And it was an enjoyment she never outgrew.
"Generally many kids start out like that, and as they grow older, they slowly become consumed by everything else and forget to make time for the outdoors," Schweiss said. "This wasn't the case for me. My bond with the great outdoors only became stronger as I grew older, and it got to the point where I no longer just enjoyed nature, I felt like I was truly a part of it."
That bond with nature led Schweiss to UNL's School of Natural Resources, where she represents a shift in the traditional demographics behind the fisheries and wildlife major, said Larkin Powell, professor of conservation biology and animal ecology.
"Ms. Schweiss is symbolic of our growing female student body in the fisheries and wildlife major, as well as students with interests in management of private lands and habitat," Powell said. "Jenna is a pleasure to advise, and we are thrilled that she comes to UNL from South Dakota. Her family has a ranch, and she embodies the goals of many ranchers to support wildlife through careful management of their lands."
However, Schweiss' path to Nebraska contained its fair share of challenges.
"I thought I would never be able to handle coming to a school this big being from a small town and graduating with a class size of 19," Schweiss said.
But when her senior class attended a college fair, a friend convinced her to visit with a UNL representative.
"I immediately became interested after hearing how highly rated the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources was," she said. "I came to Nebraska on a campus visit and I fell in love with the campus and all it had to offer, especially the School of Natural Resources. I have never once thought it was a mistake to come here."
Although Schweiss had been awarded several scholarships to attend UNL, many of those only lasted through her freshman year.
The William L. Baxter Scholarship will help ease the financial strain on Schweiss and her family as she navigates the remainder of her college career.
"Not only was it a huge honor to be recommended to receive the William L. Baxter Scholarship, it was also a huge relief to have that financial weight lifted off both my shoulders and my parent’s shoulders as well," she said. "Receiving this scholarship has allowed me to concentrate on my academics and help me in further reaching my personal goals."
Those goals include earning a spot on the Dean's List, running for president of UNL's Wildlife Club, establishing her own student organization on campus focused on environmental volunteerism, graduating a semester early, and pursuing a graduate degree – and that's just the short list.
"I do not want things in my life to be handed to me," Schweiss said. "I want to feel pride and accomplishment in the things I have done knowing that I worked hard and gave my all in order to get them."
That's just the type of attitude and spirit Bill wants to foster with the William L. Baxter Scholarship.
"Our family shares the views of my father, of being able to pay it forward with opportunities such as the scholarship fund, (and) helping those students who really want to make this area the focus of their academic training and the building of their expertise as they develop their careers," Bill said. "My hope is that this scholarship could not only be a legacy in honor of my father, but one that could also be endorsed and advocated by the future generations of our family."
Those interested in establishing their own SNR scholarship fund should contact Josh Egley, director of development for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, at 402-458-1202 or jegley@nufoundation.org.
— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources