Estate gift creates conservation scholarship endowment at UW-Stevens Point
2/27/2020

A Chippewa Falls couple's passion for conservation and education has inspired an estate gift of $695,000 to create a scholarship endowment for students in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

The Michael and Jessina Dineen Conservation Scholarship endowment through the UWSP Foundation is expected to provide over $25,000 in scholarships each year for UW-Stevens Point students entering their senior year. The students must be from the Chippewa Falls region and majoring in a natural resource-related field.

The scholarship honors the late Michael and Jessina Dineen, who grew up in Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley. They are remembered for their love and appreciation of the outdoors, strong conservation ethic and enjoyment of sharing it with others. Michael died in a motorcycle accident in 2001. Jessina "Jess" was the long-time band director at Chippewa Falls Middle School who died in 2015.

Both were active volunteers in hunter education and conservation leadership in the Chippewa Rod and Gun Club and the Chippewa Valley Outdoor Resource Alliance. This involvement led Jessina to create a scholarship program from their estate. A similar gift from the Dineen estate has also created a scholarship endowment at UW-River Falls.

"As trustees of the Michael and Jessina Dineen Trust, we are pleased to be able to provide scholarships to conservation students at both UW-Stevens Point and UW-River Falls," said Don Dukerschein, trustee. "The generosity of the Dineens will be used to recognize students for their accomplishments and assist them to achieve their educational goals."

Christine Thomas, dean of the College of Natural Resources, said the gift creates one of the college's largest scholarship endowments. "We are both excited and humbled by this generous gift, knowing it will support scholarships and ultimately inspire the next generation of professionals who will manage, preserve and protect our precious natural resources," she said.

Home to the nation's first conservation education major, created in 1946, UW-Stevens Point's College of Natural Resources has grown to become the largest undergraduate program of its kind in the United States, with more than 1,500 students and 140 faculty and staff. The college features a hands-on, field-based approach to its curriculum, rooted in Wisconsin's renowned conservation ethic. The campus has 160,000 acres of forest land, 32,000 acres of wetlands and 31,000 acres of public lands within a 20-mile radius, as well as 64 streams and 135 lakes that offer its students numerous opportunities for hands-on, real-world experience and recreational opportunities.


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