NPG is Pleased to Announce the Winners of Our 2015 Photo Scholarship Contest

NPG
June 26, 2015
Scholarship
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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:

Submit your original photo that shows how population growth is negatively impacting your community. With your photo, include your own 40-50 word description of why we need U.S. policies that work to slow, halt, and eventually reverse population growth.

(Click on each image to view larger size.)

NPG’s Foundation for Human Conservation Photography Scholarship Winner

$1,000 Award

Alianna Holst – Flathead Valley Community College, Kalispell, MT

In the year 2014, 100,445 tons of refuse were dumped at my landfill. As the population continues to rise each year, so does this mountain of garbage, consuming the pristine area in which I live. In order to preserve the precious landscapes of my town, population numbers must decline.

NPG’s Robert H. Savage Memorial Scholarship Winner

$1,000 Award

David Benton – Indiana University – Bloomington, IN

In my hometown of Bloomington, habitat destruction has let deer run rampant without their natural predators. As more forests are bulldozed for new neighborhood developments, the growing deer herds have been pushed dangerously into contact with humans. Population growth here has caused problems for nature and humanity alike.

NPG’s Sarah G. Epstein Photography Scholarship Winner

$500 Award

Elle Withaar – University of Hawaii – Manoa, Honolulu, HI

The Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site in Aurora, Colorado is the 6^th largest landfill in the nation, containing more than 2,561,809 tons of trash. Denver’s population and consumption are rapidly rising. Soon “taking out the trash” will be obsolete; there will be nowhere for it to go but into waterways, national parks, and homes.

NPG’s Cosmo Haun Photography Scholarship Winner

$500 Award

Kayla Sabala – Otero Junior College, La Junta, CO

Population growth is taking away our natural environments. As more houses are built, the natural landscape is gone forever. I am very concerned about the number of animals that are displaced as we continue to build. We are taking away their homes.

NPG’s Walter V. McBeath Photography Scholarship Winner

$500 Award

Hilary Burkholder – Immaculata University, Immaculata, PA

75 Feet and Closing… Lancaster County is known for the Amish – simple people living with no electricity, plumbing, phones or machinery. There was not one house within 200 yards of this farm, until 2 years ago. Now houses are 75 feet around it on three sides. Where does “progress” begin and end?

Each Receives a $500 Award

Jafet Alvarado Cruz – Miami Dade College, Miami, FL

My town has a vast chemical plant, which attracts a lot people from other places of the U.S. The plant alters the environmental conditions, affecting the health and welfare of my community. What concerns me the most is that the pollution exposure has a cumulative effect in our bodies.

Alexis Brown – Florida International University, Miami, FL

There is a positive correlation between the increasing demand for electricity and harmful carbon emissions from power plants like this one. U.S. policies are needed to manage population growth in order to shield our environment from greenhouse gas effects and protect citizens from public health risks.

Kara Burke – Hunter College, New York, NY

Overpopulation is much more than just a word. It’s impacting our safety. Here people are crammed up against each other in a crowded metro, where shoving is nothing out of the ordinary. Children are often lost in the sea of people, making kidnapping and getting trampled easier than ever.

Marisa Cameron – Whittier College, Whittier, CA

While the joy of a new baby is undeniable, the conditions that overpopulation creates in our daily lives is challenging and frustrating. The simple joys are not simple at all. How does our country balance our limited resources with our ever-growing population?

Tiana Costa – Florida International University, Miami, FL

This is the once beautiful Watson Island skyline in Miami. This spot was commonly visited by tourists and locals, but it is now blocked off by a construction zone. A $700 million hotel and yacht project started. An amazing view will be lost to unnecessary development in an already over-developed area.

Rio De Santo – Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA

As the population increases, people driving in the infamous Los Angeles traffic are stuck spending additional hours of their lives commuting to and from work. Also, the more vehicles on the road, the higher the carbon dioxide levels, polluting the air we breathe and affecting climate change.

Mark Dempsey – Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC

The pristine beauty of nature at the New Jersey beaches is disappearing before our eyes. As the demand for real estate and land development continues to increase, the natural world is being decimated. Unless population regulation is implemented, the natural beauty of our planet will continue to disappear.

Caleb Flowers – Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

Since 1996, Atlanta has drastically grown. The city has drawn in people from numerous places around the world. This is an improvement for business, but it is a negative for the traffic of the city. The U.S. needs laws to keep the population under control so dangerous traffic conditions like this will not happen across the country.

Hannah Foster – North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University, Greensboro, NC

In my community, three different areas have been cleared off like this one so they can build more houses. The woods used to cover that whole area, but after a few days it has turned into nothing but barren land.

Shannan Moore – Cornell University, Ithica, NY

The demolition of hundreds of trees to build an alternative interstate lane would not have happened if the population in Metro Atlanta had not increased tremendously. We need the U.S. to enact policies to reverse growth….

Donna Sayegh – University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

I took this image the morning that Arizona’s clouds had reached the ground. I decided to take a hike and see how the clouds over took the city. I realized once I sat down that one day this will not be here anymore. The world is getting so overpopulated that nature will soon have to be taken down and we will not be able to enjoy the gifts that are sent from above.

Anna Vetters – Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL

Oak trees used to dominate the landscape in this region of Kentucky. Because of the growing population, more and more of these trees are cut down to make room. Now, it is only a matter of time before this final survivor dies, along with the legacy the mighty oak carries.

Grayson Wells – University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

In Longwood, Florida, black bear sightings are common, as development has encroached on their habitat and many people don’t follow bear-safe trash procedures. Sadly, bear hunting has now been approved even though the species was among the state’s most threatened not long ago.

Click here for previous years’ Photo Scholarship winners.