Hello! My name is Lydia Meakins,

 I am a hiker, backpacker, honors student, varsity tennis player, skier, the youngest of three kids, an artist, an Eagle Scout… and a voice for Mother Nature.

I am Lydia Meakins, a grateful recipient of the Grossman Scholarship 2025-26.



My love for the outdoors began in my childhood with family camping, hiking 14ers, building fairy houses, and Jr. Ranger Badges at many National Parks. One thing in common is that I was always asking questions about the environment I loved. From childhood curiosity came my love for the sciences and art, and my high school science teachers quickly became my academic mentors, always encouraging me to explore more. Throughout high school, I also began an adventure with Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America). Scouting has given me opportunities to be in our natural world in all seasons, basic skills and safety in outdoor survival, and fostered my leadership skills with my peers.

Towards the end of my junior year, I began to realize that caring for our natural world is my passion. I also read a book by Paul Bogard, The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light, and his thoughts about needing to love something before we will know how to care for it struck me. I think I knew then, that my call in life was to help a new generation fall in love with our earth, so we can all care for her better. I went on to volunteer for a summer internship with Trout Unlimited to do just that, help kids fall in love with the wildness of the galaxies and worlds held delicately in our streams. That fall I completed two conservation projects through my scouting endeavors.

The first of my conservation projects is at Harriman Lake Park in Lakewood, CO. This park has struggled with anglers not disposing of their fishing line appropriately. Fishing line contaminates the shorelines, tangles in vegetation, where other trash begins to accumulate in this unnatural web, and owls and ducks get entangled. In hopes of reducing injuries and litter, I was asked to install two monofilament disposal units.

My second conservation project is at Foothills Golf Course. This golf course has a flourishing native habitat of plants, insects, and wildlife, but most relevant, birds. Research shows bird populations are declining nationally. In hopes of supporting the local bird population, I am replacing 11 of the 33, 20-year-old, bird houses at Foothills Golf Course.

I plan to protect and restore our environment through conservation and sustainable efforts, both in my career and in personal practice. I don’t know that we can have too many people in the fields of environmental science, sustainability, and conservation. We have a lot of work to do. This scholarship will allow me to pursue my career goal of becoming a National Park Ranger, make an impact on the next generation, and provide a promising future to generations beyond us.

I have been accepted at Colorado Western University in Gunnison, CO, into the 3+2 and honors programs. I will be getting a bachelor’s degree in Environment and Sustainability with a minor in Outdoor Recreational Education, and I will continue with a master’s degree in Environmental Management. The professors at Western are well-connected to their students and include undergraduate students in their research work. When I walked around the campus, it was great to see many senior projects in use. The adjunct faculty for the school of Environmental Science are often employed in government agencies that manage our lands, fish, and wildlife, and other businesses and organizations invested in conservation efforts. I believe their mentorship will help me find internships and future employment to work toward my goal of becoming a National Park Ranger.

I want to continue to mentor new young women scouts in Scouting America and volunteer my time with organizations such as Trout Unlimited and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. The generosity of the Grossman scholarship gives me the financial support to invest in our world and invest in others. I look forward to my future.