L. A. Stoddart Range Management Scholarship

Initiated in 1974, the L. A. Stoddart Range Management Scholarship is awarded annually by the Utah Section to outstanding sophomore or junior range management students. This cash scholarship honors the memory of the late Dr. Stoddart, former head of the Range Science Department at Utah State University and a noted researcher, scholar, and educator.


2025-2026 Scholarship Details

The Utah section of SRM will be awarding two $1,500 scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year. The scholarship competition is open to students who currently are sophomores or juniors in a range or range-related program at a Utah University. Applicants must also be members of the Society for Range Management. Past recipients of the scholarship may also apply; however, preference will be given to those who have not received the scholarship in the past.

 Applications must be received on or before May 1, 2025 The scholarship will be awarded based on GPA, activity level with the Society for Range Management which includes involvement with a university range club, demonstrated leadership, letters of recommendation, essay and potential to contribute to the range management profession.

Required application materials

  • Cover page that introduces the student and describes career goals and activities in SRM and/or other range-related organizations. Include the following information: Name, birth date, address, e-mail, university, major, and expected semester of graduation. Here students may include anything they wish the committee to know about themselves.

  • Transcripts for all undergraduate institutions attended which include both courses taken and GPA on a 4-point scale (unofficial transcripts are acceptable).

  • Two letters of recommendation must be included with the application or sent directly to Jeff Barnes by email from the person writing the recommendation.

  • An essay (2-page maximum) on “What impacts do invasive plant species have on the function and management of western rangelands?”


    Applications should be sent or delivered to:

  • Jeff Barnes

    barnes.jeffh@gmail.com

    495 East 180 South

    Smithfield, Utah 84335

    Phone : (435) 881-2610

2024 Scholarship Recipients

Stephen Bunnell

Stephen is currently the President of the USU SRM student chapter. He has led the chapter in creating a new set of bylaws and pushed the club forward as one of the most active in the Quinney College of Natural Resources. Stephen is pursuing a double major in Rangeland Ecology and Management and Wildlife Ecology and Management. He says participation in SRM competitions and conferences has changed his life and he hopes to find a way to make attending these meetings more affordable for students. He is also working with Dr. Eric Lamalfa to develop a course which educates students on the Undergraduate Range Management Exam content. Stephen spent the summer in Burns, OR at the USDA Research Station working as a Range Technician.

Stephen was born in Utah but spent his elementary years in the Czech Republic. Returning to Utah, he landed in North Logan, Utah, where he became involved with the FFA program in high school. He credits his father, who valued the outdoors and was trained in the fundamentals of range and wildlife, for his love of vegetation and the animals that forage on it. Stephen hopes to attend graduate school in a range program in the interests of pursuing a research career as either faculty at a university or with USDA.

Sage K. Johansen

Sage Johansen is currently attending Brigham Young University majoring in Natural Resources- Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation. She attended schools in Elsinore and Monroe, Utah, participating in the FFA Range CDE at South Sevier High School. Achieving a high score won her a trip to the 2021 National SRM Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she represented Utah at the High School Youth Forum.

Sage served as the Vice President of the Snow College Resources Club and has participated in Plant ID and URME competitions at state SRM meetings. Sage has worked a summer season for SITLA and she has worked for the National Forest Service on the Fishlake National Forest as a range technician. Her career goal is to work as a range specialist for the National Forest Service. Sage is a recipient of the prestigious SRM Masonic Range Scholarship.