Ryan M. Poehling Memorial Scholarship
Recent: 2012 Poehling Scholarship awarded to Cody Mertens.
Background
Ryan
Michael Poehling was born March 21, 1973 to Henry (Hank) and
Sandra (Sandy) Poehling of La Crosse, Wisconsin. At only 16
years of age, Ryan was diagnosed with Epithelial Sarcoma, a rare
form of cancer that even today, very little is known about. Ryan
went on to win the battle with this disease, and in 1995 earned
his bachelor's in Geography, graduating with honors, from the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Along the way, he served as
student representative in Gamma Theta Upsilon, the
international geographical honor society. His passion for
geography led him to the University of Florida where in 1997, he
earned his Master's degree, graduating with highest honors, was
named Student of the Year, and was the youngest person ever
nominated for Teacher of the Year. On January 16, 1999, Ryan
married the love of his life, Angela Gould, in Gainsville. He continued his graduate
studies at Florida taking aim at the rank of Ph.D. Nearing
completion of his requirements, Ryan was again stricken with the
same cancer. Still, he pressed on and presented his dissertation
but sadly passed away on December 17, 2000, at age 27,
surrounded by his devoted wife Angela and other family members.
Although Ryan passed on before being able to defend his
dissertation and finalize his Ph.D. requirements, on May 15,
2001, he was posthumously awarded his doctorate during UF's
spring commencement ceremony. Following Ryan's passing, his
family set about establishing a charitable foundation in his honor. Today, this foundation, the
Ryan Michael Poehling Charitable Foundation, Inc.,
generously provides UW-L Geography students the chance to further
enhance their education with the Ryan M. Poehling Memorial
Scholarship along with offering the Ryan M. Poehling Memorial
Fellowship to University of Florida graduate students.
Application Information
Applications are generally accepted during the month of October with the scholarship being awarded in mid to late November. Applications will be available on this page during this timeframe.
2012 Recipient of the Ryan M. Poehling Memorial Scholarship
The UW-L Geography & Earth Science Department
is pleased to announce the 2012 Ryan Michael Poehling
Scholarship has been awarded to Cody Mertens.
Cody is very active in the department. His recent activities
include assisting his advisors, Dr. Colin Belby and Dr. Ryan
Perroy in their ongoing study of soil contamination in the La
Crosse River marsh. Cody presented findings of this study at the
Applied Geography Conference and will be presenting at the
American Association of Geographers in Los Angeles, California
in the Spring of 2013. Cody is also a member of the UW-L fishing
club holding the position of Competition Director and continues
his efforts on getting this two-year old club's name into the
college tournament fishing scene. As of late, Cody has been
volunteering for the Volunteer Within Club, collecting cans
door-to-door on Halloween.
Away from campus Cody enjoys an array of outdoor activities
including; hiking, camping, hunting, and canoeing.
Cody's future plans include engaging in graduate studies in a
GIS / Spatial Data Analysis program where he hopes to expand his
knowledge of advance modeling and prediction of environmental
processes and problems. After graduate school, Cody hopes to
obtain a job as an environmental consultant and perhaps one day
own his own business.
The Geography & Earth Science Department would like to
congratulate Cody on this outstanding achievement.
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| Hank Poehling and Cody Mertens | Cody Mertens (c) along with advisors Dr. Colin Belby (l) and Dr. Ryan Perroy (r) |
Past Recipients
| 2001 | Scott Leis | 2007 | Jameson Loesch |
| 2002 | Jennifer Hauser | 2008 | Martin Elmer |
| 2003 | Margaret Hollenhorst | 2009 | Brett Mittelstaedt |
| 2004 | Amber Minard | 2010 | Benjamin Uphoff |
| 2005 | Nathan Koster | 2011 | Alexander Wegner |
| 2006 | John Lauermann | 2012 | Cody Mertens |
More Information
For additional information about Ryan and this
generous scholarship:
Visit the
Ryan Michael Poehling Charitable Foundation, Inc. on
Facebook or
Contact the UW-L Geography Department:
Office: 608.785.8333
Dr. Georges Cravins: 608.785.6674, email
gcravins@uwlax.edu