NPG is Pleased to Announce the Winners of Our 2016 Photo Scholarship Contest

NPG
June 8, 2016
Scholarships 2016
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NPG is pleased to offer challenging contests as part of our mission to enlist a new generation of activists, who will be focused on calling attention to the dangers of population growth. We send our thanks to all of our members and friends who have so generously contributed – as well as our appreciation for the tens of thousands of students who have competed in our contests. It is your support and participation that make this critical program possible!

This year’s challenge was:

Without critical changes, U.S. population is projected to reach 400 million people by mid-century. Submit your photo of a threatened U.S. environmental treasure that you believe is worth protecting, along with an explanation (40-50 words) of how population growth has put this treasure at risk.

(Click on each image to view larger size.)

NPG’s Foundation for Human Conservation Photography Scholarship

$1,500 Award

Sam Mullinix, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA

Global Warming is causing glaciers around the world, like the pictured Margerie Glacier, to recede at an alarming rate. Extreme population growth directly contributes to an increase in the greenhouses gases that are responsible for Global Warming and the negative effect it has on U.S. parks like Glacier Bay.

Runner-Up

$1,000 Award

Jennifer Filippelli, Undecided

Even our national parks are at risk, like Yosemite pictured above. With millions of people visiting each year, leaving trash and pollution in their wake, the damage is only going to worsen as more and more people are added to the U.S. population. Large groups of people also negatively impact plants and animals that call this beautiful landscape home.

Honorable Mentions

Each Receives a $500 Award

Jacob Hehn, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Human population growth has increased our energy consumption, resulting in higher temperatures around the globe. This ultimately causes the polar ice caps to shrink and also increases the calving of icebergs like this one.

Alex Morales, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Due to increased demand for sardines from human population growth, 70% of sea lion pups were estimated to die from starvation. Pups like this one have likely been abandoned by their mothers to hunt, leaving the young to fend for themselves and become part of the 70% that die from starvation.

NPG’s Robert H. Savage Memorial Scholarship

Aidan Teodoro, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Pictured is a sunbathing turtle on a secluded beach in Hawaii. On this beach, I saw many turtles just like this one, but I feared their beach getaway would be soon taken from them by the many new houses built to accommodate the influx of people to the island.