Sutherland Shire Environment Centre has previously provided an annual $2,500 scholarship for honours students of the University of Wollongong.
The scholarship offered support to Honours students committed to researching environmental issues impacting the Sutherland Shire. The purpose of the scholarship was to provide recognition and reward to any student in the Environmental Engineering or Environmental Science disciplines, working on a specific project or thesis that examined, enhanced or aimed to improve the environmental sustainability of the region.
In 2016 Rob Dixon was awarded the scholarship for his research on mangrove and saltmarsh dynamics in Lake Illawarra, with the expansion of mangroves into areas of saltmarsh. Rob’s research was especially relevant in considering mangrove expansion due to sea level rise in the open estuaries of the Sutherland Shire.
Previous recipients included Alicia Cronly in 2015 for her research monitoring migration and effective methods to control the invasion of the Eastern mosquito fish, Gambusia Holbrooki. Bess Murphy’s research in 2014 examined seed bank dynamics of mangrove, saltmarsh swamp and forest communities in the Southern coast of NSW, including Towra Point.
