McKinney Climate Fellows Scholarships

By Office of the Vice President for Research

McKinney Climate Fellows are taking on climate change across Indiana while developing their career skills through life-changing service learning. You can help provide this opportunity to more students with a donation to the McKinney Climate Fellows Scholarship Fund. Thank you!

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This year, 40 McKinney Climate Fellows will contribute 20,000 hours of service in Indiana. These talented IU students will be accellerating climate action projects for cities, counties, and towns; tracking and reducing food waste for a food bank; monitoring new environmental legislation and providing community engagement for the northwest Indiana lakeshore; developing equitable tree-planting plans; and much more!

Join us in empowering these students and the communities they serve with a donation to our MCF scholarship fund for IU Day. Thank you!

This crowdfunding campaign is supported by a lead gift of $1,500 from the Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station, owned by IU alumnus David Gabovitch and his wife, Nonie Vonnegut-Gabovitch. Thank you, BRICS!

Read about a few of our inspiring MCF alumni:

Ben Richardson was a McKinney Climate Fellow for Pacers Sports & Entertainment in 2023. He's graduating this spring with a BA in environmental sustainability, and already has a two-year Orr Fellowship lined up with a small business in Indianapolis called Make My Move, and then plans to pursue an environmental masters degree.

Madison Byarley was a Fellow for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful in 2020, where she helped build pocket parks around Indy in areas with lower access to parks and green spaces. Now she works for the City of Indianapolis as the Thriving Buildings program coordinator. Madison says of her MCF experience: "I learned a lot about how to best engage with diverse communities and about equity and inclusion. It informed my career path. I still work at the local level, specifically in local government. I keep things I learned about DEI in the back of my mind as we plan events in the same city."

As a Fellow in 2022, Andrew Walters helped Greater Indiana Clean Cities support a major utility fleet transition to electric and biofuel energy. Now he works as the Energy Assistance Program Policy & Engagement Analyst for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.