We would like to congratulate Ms. Ashley Carreiro on being the 2013 recipient of The Matt Beard Memorial Undergraduate Marine Research Scholarship. This special award is given to the student who embodies all that Matt exemplified as a student in the Certificate Program in Marine Biology and as a member of the Academic Diving Program community.

She is being recognized for her research -- Do marine protected areas (MPAs) have a higher fish density, higher species diversity of fish, larger fish, and greater coral cover than unprotected reefs -- in which she used diving as a tool, for her eagerness to accept all challenges both in class and in the field, and for her willingness to volunteer on diving projects when additional diving support was needed.