Growing up in rural Southwest Virginia, Sally Brannan Hurt ’92 dreamed of travel. She finally got her chance to go abroad to the Bahamas during a spring break trip in college. Yet, she realized she yearned to see rainforests and savannas more than she wanted to sunbathe in the sand.
“Being in nature brings me joy,” said Hurt, who has since visited some of the most biodiverse places on the planet through the University of Mary Washington’s Alumni on the Road trips. “I love seeing plants, insects and animals that aren’t in my neck of the woods.”
UMW students have been able to take their own excursions because of the Sally Brannan Hurt ’92 Study Abroad Scholarship in Biology, which she established soon after going on an alumni trip to the Galápagos Islands in 2011. Under the direction of Professor of Biology Andrew Dolby, dozens of her recipients have explored the flora and fauna found on this remote archipelago off the coast of Ecuador. Current students can learn about all of the opportunities that UMW’s Center for International Education has to offer at the 2023 Education Abroad Fair, held on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m. in the Cedric Rucker University Center’s Chandler Ballroom.
“Getting to experience a global ecological treasure like the Galápagos Islands inspires students like nothing else,” said Dolby, who helped Hurt work with Mary Washington’s Office of Advancement to set up the scholarship. “Sally opens up the world for students who would not be able to travel internationally without support.”
That’s true of UMW senior Kylie Jackson ’24, who was surprised to learn her donor grew up near her hometown of Rocky Mount, Virginia. Along with her classmates, Jackson visited four different islands during spring break, observing and learning about wildlife from local guides, visiting research facilities, hiking and snorkeling, and planting native trees for a forest restoration project. She also saw sea lions, marine iguanas, blue-footed booby birds and more. She even had an up-close encounter with a large group of sea turtles.
“I’m beyond grateful to Sally,” said Jackson, a conservation biology major who hopes to pursue a career helping to protect endangered species around the world. “Without this scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to experience what life as a conservationist could be like.”
Read the rest of Sally’s story and view pictures of her travels, as well as Kylie’s photos from the Galápagos Islands at giving.umw.edu.
Kylie Jackson ’24 in the Galápagos Islands on a trip led by Professor of Biology Andrew Dolby. Jackson, a senior conservation biology major, said she wouldn’t have been able to go on the trip without the Sally Brannan Hurt ’92 Study Abroad Scholarship in Biology. Photo courtesy of Kylie Jackson.
UMW students plant trees for a forest restoration project in the Galápagos Islands. For more than a decade, Sally Brannan Hurt’s scholarship has helped dozens of students visit one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Photo courtesy of Professor of Biology Andrew Dolby.
To learn more about establishing scholarships, please contact the Office of Advancement at (540) 654-1024 or [email protected]. To find out about upcoming Alumni on the Road trips, please visit the Mary Washington Alumni website. This story originally ran in the Advancing Mary Washington quarterly newsletter.