Zonta Foothills Climate Justice Scholarship
The Zonta Foothills
Climate Justice Scholarship
NOW Accepting Applications! Our winner will receive $5,000!
As the impacts of climate change worsen, conditions for women around the world are deteriorating. Climate change is a threat multiplier, exacerbating conditions for vulnerable populations, and women are often the most vulnerable because they make up 70 percent of the world’s poor. Women suffer the most from the direct and indirect effects of climate change because they have less access to resources, education, and decision-making power than men, and are often the most dependent on natural resources for their livelihood.
The Zonta Foothills Foundation launched our Climate Justice Scholarship in 2024 to help build a gender-equal, sustainable world by educating women, advocating for women’s rights, and inspiring female leaders. It is offered to women* enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in graduate studies focusing on environmental science, natural resources, sustainability and renewable energy, with a focus on climate and environmental justice and action. New this year, the scholarships are open to law students pursuing environmental law, environmental justice, civil rights, and toxic torts.
Climate Justice is the recognition of how the climate crisis disproportionately harms marginalized, low-income, and communities of color. It seeks solutions to address the root causes of climate change while also reducing social, racial and environmental injustice. It recognizes the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income and BIPOC communities, the people and places least responsible for the problem.
The Zonta Foothills Club Climate Justice scholarship’s purpose is to encourage graduate scholars to continue their studies in pursuit of Climate Justice goals as described above. We hope this scholarship empowers leaders who will build just systems to sustain the planet for future generations.
We anticipate that the women receiving this prestigious award will be involved in promoting this award and supporting future recipients of the Zonta Foothills Climate Justice Scholarship through mentorship and networking.
The Zonta Foothills Climate Justice Scholarship is an investment in the education of women pursuing careers in climate justice fields. In 2021, Zonta International issued its Statement on Climate Change: a Gender Equality Issue, which highlights the importance of educating women and girls particularly in response to climate change’s impact on this population. Zonta Says NOW to Gender Equality and Climate Action is the campaign to address climate justice at local, national, and international levels. The Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County enthusiastically endorses this direction.
Watch ourWomen Taking Climate Action video to learn more about our 2025 scholarship recipients and their work.
*To be eligible, you must consistently live and identify as a woman.
Who Is Eligible?
Women* who are attending the University of Colorado Boulder in graduate studies when the application is submitted to the Zonta Foothills Foundation are eligible to apply. Applicants must still be attending CU Boulder when the scholarship funds are awarded in spring 2027.
We are looking for women who are applying their passion through both their studies and their actions. Applicants should be engaging in community action or strategies that will contribute to pursuing climate justice, protecting the environment, and mitigating climate change.
*To be eligible, you must consistently live and identify as a woman.
Scholarship Application
2027 Applications are Due by 11:59 pm on October 15th, 2026.
Required components for the application:
Application form completed below, including an essay that explains how your work focuses on community action or strategies that will pursue climate justice, protecting the environment, and mitigating climate change and describes how you mentor or network with other women in climate action work. Please explain how your work is addressing social injustices toward women as a result of climate change.
Unofficial transcript from CU Boulder to verify current enrollment
Letter of recommendation commenting on your climate justice work
Optional additional items to include: video, articles, pamphlets, books, curriculum vitae, photos or other publications
Our 2026 Climate Justice Scholarship Winners
Liza Sprout
Liza Sprout is a PhD candidate in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying the governance and distribution of global environmental finance for biodiversity and the net-zero transition. Using statistical and qualitative methods, she examines how financial flows and policies affect marginalized groups — namely women and girls, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The aim of her work is to guide public and private sector safeguards in order to bring about more effective and equitable nature and climate finance.
Liza has collaborated with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Grantham Research Institute (GRI) on projects examining climate finance, gendered vulnerability to climate change, climate adaptation, and policy effectiveness. She has also worked in civil society, advising policies to strengthen banks’ environmental safeguards, as well as in the private renewable energy sector.
Michaela Perez
Michaela Perez is a nontraditional, first‑generation student from Boulder, Colorado, pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder. Rooted in her home community, she brings experience in farming, horticulture, wildfire mitigation, caregiving, and community organizing. A turning point came through her relationship with Llucca, a German shepherd from Arizona who turned out to be part Mexican gray wolf. She lived to be 23, and her intelligence and nobility sparked Michaela’s commitment to conservation. She learned that at one point, there were only seven Mexican gray wolves that remained, and recovery was being attempted through binational research, genetics, policy, and long‑term management, so Michaela decided to join the effort and return to school. Her field work includes post‑wildfire fish monitoring, coyote coexistence research, bison–vegetation studies, and wildlife rehabilitation. Michaela aims for a career in wildlife biology and ecological restoration, focused on conservation approaches that connect species recovery with habitat restoration to support resilient Western ecosystems. She acknowledges that many current conservation challenges in the Americas stem from European colonization and that long-term ecological and cultural healing will require addressing the consequences of Indigenous land displacement, predator eradication, habitat loss, and ecosystem disruptions."
Leanna Johnson
Leanna Johnson third year of environmental engineering, focusing on climate justice through practical, community-centered solutions in water, waste, and urban sustainability. She has worked on green chemistry in campus labs, water conservation policy research for Southwestern cities, and watershed and urban heat studies and cares deeply about making science accessible to the people most affected by environmental change. Leanne is committed to building solutions that are accessible in everyday life.
Our 2025 Zonta Foothills Climate Justice Scholarship Recipients
Our 1st place award of $5,000 was awarded to a team of three University of Colorado graduate students who applied as a cohort: Brigid Mark, Sara Fleming and Mariah Bowman. These graduate students were recognized for their collaborative work creating and implementing an undergraduate course that helps students determine ways to impact the CU Boulder Climate Action Plan (CAP) and incorporate climate justice into the Plan.
Because of the stellar group of applicants who applied for this grant cycle, we also awarded a 2nd place prize to Casey Davis, who received $2,000. Casey is a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, working to create sustainable electronics for renewable energy applications.
Brigid Mark
Brigid Mark is a fifth year Ph.D. student interested in ecological health, Native political issues, and qualitative methodologies. Brigid holds master's in Sociology from CU Boulder and a bachelor's in Environmental Studies and Biology from the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University.
Mariah Bowman
Mariah Bowman is in her third and final year of law school at the University of Colorado, studying Environmental and Indigenous Peoples' Law. Before law school, Mariah worked for three years in federal and state politics. In addition to climate activism, Mariah is passionate about making government work for people. She has worked for all three branches of the federal government, two branches of state government, and local government.
Sara Fleming is a graduate student in Human Geography at the University of Colorado Boulder, interested in the intersections of climate justice, housing justice, and community organizing. Her thesis examines this topic through a study of Colorado's community-owned mobile home parks. Prior to graduate school, Sara worked in communications for both housing policy, and climate policy organizations.
Sara Fleming
Casey Davis
Casey is currently in her 5th year of a Chemistry PhD at CU Boulder, studying the characterization of organic electronics for renewable energy applications. She is also working to integrate energy justice into her degree and energy research. Casey notes, “I am interested in both the deployment of a just energy transition, and in broadening the education of scientists to establish a workforce of people who understand the societal implications of their work.” Outside of work she enjoys reading, cooking , and the classic Boulder outdoor activities.