The North Umpqua River is nationally recognized as a wild and scenic river and world renowned as a steelhead fishery. It also holds a special place in the hearts of four college students.
In February, Cheyanne Rico, Bailey Daniels, Michelle Pepping and Leslie Jensen received scholarships to support their education from The North Umpqua Foundation, an organization working to protect and advocate for the river.
Cheyanne Rico, who grew up in Roseburg and graduated from Phoenix High School, said she was considered an at-risk youth as a teenager. But when she joined the school’s Youth Conservation Corps, she gained experience working with the Umpqua National Forest and Roseburg Bureau of Land Management on local natural resources projects like salmon counts.
“The North Umpqua is a very special place to me,” Rico said. “Getting involved in the Youth Conservation Corps program and working outdoors and finding my relationship with the Umpqua really helped me a lot as a youth when I was a high schooler.” She said she doesn’t know where she would be without those experiences, so she has a heartfelt attachment to the river.
She went on to volunteer with conservation group Umpqua Watersheds, and received her associates of science degree in natural resources from Umpqua Community College. Rico is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in natural resources at Oregon State University. She said the scholarship from The North Umpqua Foundation has been very helpful, as a few years ago she didn’t even know she would go to college.
Bailey Daniels, also from Roseburg, graduated from Roseburg High School.
“Early on in school I realized what I wanted to do in the future because I love the outdoors and I find something special about the North Umpqua River,” Daniels said. As a second-year student at Oregon State University studying fisheries and wildlife sciences, she is interested in going into fisheries management and is exploring her options in researching the North Umpqua River.
“This scholarship from The North Umpqua Foundation helps open up more opportunities where I will be able to participate in internships and research,” Daniels said. She said the foundation is a good resource to have in moving forward with her education and career goals.
“I would like to thank The North Umpqua Foundation for making this opportunity available for students like me who are passionate and inspired by the North Umpqua River,” Daniels said.
Michelle Pepping, from San Jose, California, spent the summer researching steelhead in the North Umpqua River as part of her dissertation for earning her doctorate degree from University of California, Davis. She chose the North Umpqua because her professor, Mike Miller, grew up fishing it with his grandfather.
