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University of North Dakota’s official press release archive.

UND student and Maple Grove Senior High graduate Patricia “Trece” Hopp wins national scholarship

Patricia “Trece” Hopp, a 2019 graduate of Maple Grove Senior High in Maple Grove, Minn., has been awarded a Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. The scholarship is offered by NOAA, the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and is meant to give the scholars hands-on experience in NOAA-related science, research, technology and other activities.

Hopp is a sophomore at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D. Thanks to her scholarship, she’ll receive academic assistance of up to $9,500 per year for her junior and senior years at UND, plus a 10-week, full-time, paid internship at a NOAA facility during the summer.

During that summer experience, previous Hollings Scholarship recipients have found themselves in places such as Alaska, flying over the Chukchi Sea and deploying floats with a NOAA Arctic Research group; California, helping oceanographers aboard a NOAA research vessel at sea off the West Coast; and Hawaii, designing coastal nurseries meant to help the world restore its populations of coral.

As an Atmospheric Science major at UND’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, Hopp is especially interested in NOAA’s role as the home of the National Weather Service, the agency that provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States.

Through her summer internship, Hopp is hoping to research weather information accessibility, the process that makes sure all individuals – with and without disabilities, and from all walks of life – can access weather information.

“I am honored to have been selected to be part of NOAA’s Hollings Scholarship Program,” Hopp said. “I am absolutely thrilled for the opportunity. An abundance of gratitude goes to both my mentors in the atmospheric sciences department and in the Honors College; thank you for your support!”

Said Yee Han Chu, Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator at UND, “Trece’s strength as a scholarship candidate is her unique constellation of interests and how she will bring these perspectives into her work. While studying atmospheric sciences, she is also minoring in mathematics and dance.

“As an Honors student, she has discovered a critical link between atmospheric science and the social sciences and will look into researching the relationship between weather information and weather communication.

“It has been a delight working with Trece, who is so enthusiastic in all her interests. She arrived to UND knowing exactly what she wanted, and I am so happy that her focus and diligence have been rewarded.”

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