Top scholars were celebrated April 2, 2026, during the 73rd annual UMES Honors Convocation held in the Ella Fitzgerald Center. University of Maryland Eastern Shore undergraduates were recognized for academic achievements, including dean’s list honors for the 2025 spring and fall semesters (minimum 3.5 GPA), departmental distinction (minimum 3.7 GPA), departmental honors (an outstanding student from each department) and a coveted Award of Excellence for the most outstanding student in each of the university’s Schools.
SANS Award of Excellence
The top honor for the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences was presented to Sarah Rawlinson, who also received Natural Science’s departmental honor. She is a junior and a native of Texas. The Award of Excellence recognizes demonstrated leadership, outstanding academic work, integrity, the ability to work with peers and the potential for continued scholarly work.
Rawlinson embarked on her academic career at UMES in fall 2023 and was accepted as a NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center scholar that spring. Her summer 2023 internship with the Geoscience Bridge Program at UMES served as a pipeline to her enrollment. She has since completed internships, presented research at international conferences and held leadership roles and volunteered through student groups.
Her undergraduate research and academic prowess was recognized by her selection as the 2025 NOAA Office of Education as the Ernest F. Hollings undergraduate scholar toward Rawlinson’s junior and senior years of study. It also includes a paid summer internship and funding to participate in two national scientific conferences.
Her internship for summer 2026 will be at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, working on a research project titled “An Assessment of the Extent of Subsurface Marine Debris on Lake Erie Beaches.”
She completed previous summer internships at NOAA’s Pascagoula Lab in Mississippi and the University of Hawaii at Mānoa’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates.
The environmental science scholar has presented her research at the U.S.-Africa conference in Lagos, Nigeria and the American Fisheries Society’s 154th annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, both in 2024. She also presented at the 11th Biennial NOAA EPP/MSI Education and Science Forum hosted by UMES last year.
Rawlinson was accepted into the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography Emerging Fellows pilot program to support future researchers in aquatic sciences. As part of the program, she was among 11 students who attended the Ocean Science meeting Feb. 2026 in Scotland.
In addition to academics, Rawlinson is active in UMES’ Environmental Science Association, serving as vice president this year.
Rawlinson aims to earn a doctorate degree in marine chemistry and work as a scientific researcher studying phytoplankton and water health.
Departmental honors
Patrice Dolloway, a senior from Montgomery County, Maryland, is the outstanding student chosen by the Human Ecology Department. She is slated to graduate this summer in the second cohort from the department’s online Child Development program.
Dolloway is the first student from the virtual program to receive the award, a milestone that speaks to her outstanding personal achievement and the opportunities the department’s growing online program makes possible, said Bridgett Clinton-Scott, professor and graduate program director for UMES’ Department of Human Ecology.
She has maintained a perfect cumulative GPA while working in Wicomico and Montgomery counties in Maryland. Dolloway has also been actively engaged in campus life as a manager of UMES’ women’s softball team.
“Patrice demonstrates the ability to balance her personal life with academic excellence, service and leadership. She approaches these demands with remarkable positivity. Her outlook and dedication reflect both her resilience and her genuine commitment to children and families,” Clinton-Scott said.
Following graduation, Dolloway plans to enroll in the Master of Science Human Ecology online program in the child development track. Her career goal is to help child care providers gain the knowledge and confidence needed to create supportive learning environments for all children, Clinton-Scott said.
Dolloway holds an associate degree from Montgomery College, where she was named to the dean’s list all four semesters of study.
For its departmental honor recipient, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences selected Natalee Lewis. The sophomore is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in agriculture-animal science/pre-vet from UMES.
Lewis maintains a 4.0 GPA and membership in the Richard A. Henson Honors Program. She is also a UMES 1890 Land-grant Scholar.
Lewis lives in Salisbury, Maryland, where she is employed at career-related business, including a local farm market and nursery, and a veterinary clinic.
For the spring 2026 semester, Lewis is a student poultry research assistant for a six-week research trial being conducted by Jennifer Timmons, professor of poultry science and researcher. She is involved in collecting and recording data on bird weight and feed consumption, helping to monitor flock condition while implementing enrichments and feed restriction protocols, calculating feed conversion ration for the flock and following animal care and safety guidelines.
“Natalee is a bright and ambitious student. She is extremely reliable and works hard in and outside of the classroom. Natalee exemplifies all of the qualities of a Departmental Honors award recipient and is well deserving of this honor,” Timmons said.
Lewis’ career goal is to be a veterinarian on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and work with farm animals. She will apply to the future UMES’ School of Veterinary Medicine following graduation.
View more photos here.
View the complete list of honorees from the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, including dean’s list, here.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu, 410-621-3850.
Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, tdudek@umes.edu.
