Monday, February 25, 2002

By: Elissa Garriss, PR Intern

WILMINGTON, NC – Stefanie Wells, senior marine biology major at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, was selected as the 2002-03 North American Rolex Scholar. She is the second UNCW student to receive the award from Our World Underwater Scholarship Society. Wells, who is from Auburn, N.Y., is the daughter of James and Margret Wells. Her long-term goal is to receive a Ph.D. in Ichthyology and to spend her life underwater. The first UNCW student recipient was Ms. Katie Laing, of Wrightsville Beach, who received the award in 1996.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be between the ages of 21 and 25 and be a certified diver with no less than 25 dives. They must also be in high academic standing and have not yet received a master’s degree. Individual applications are received from all over the country.

The scholarship is sponsored and funded in large part by the Rolex Corp. Wells will also receive a Rolex watch and diving equipment. She will travel around the world from May 2002 until April 2003 while assisting in research expeditions and visiting various university diving programs around the country. Wells will act as an university ambassador during her travel.

NOTE TO MEDIA: For more information on the scholarship, contact Doug Kesling, center for undersea research, at (910) 962-2410 or visit the scholarship Web site at www.owuscholarship.org. A picture of Stefanie Wells is available to download from the Web site www.uncwil.edu/news.