Scholarship Committee Chair 2025-2026 : Claire Hennig
Thanks to the proceeds from our annual Holiday Tour of Homes and Outside Living Garden Tour and Art Show fundraisers, The Garden Club of LBI is able to award scholarships to local students studying horticultural, environmental and marine sciences.
2025 Garden Club of LBI Scholarship Winners
Photo by Joyce Lubach
Submitted by Claire Hennig & Diane Macrides
The Garden Club of Long Beach Island presented three merit-based scholarships of $5,000 each during its luncheon on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the LBI National Golf & Resort in Tuckerton, NJ. Congratulations were extended to Maya Abdelaal (MATES)*, Amalie Werner (MATES)* and Samantha Cushing (Southern Regional) for their outstanding achievement.
In the fall, Maya plans to pursue Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, while Amalie will be studying Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University. Additionally, Samantha will focus on Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University.
These applicants stood out for their clear focus and contributions to our local environment, their impressive academic records, and their leadership skills. The scholarship is posted on the Southern Regional and MATES webpages and is available to students in these two local high schools who have committed to studies at an accredited college or university in environmental, marine, horticultural or closely related sciences. These outstanding scholarships are a result of the hard work and commitment of the members of The Garden Club of LBI in their fundraising efforts, as well as the incredible support from the community for our events. The Club supports the scholarship program through the monies raised by our annual Holiday Tour of Homes and our June Outdoor Living Garden Tour and Art Show.
*Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences
Submitted by Claire Hennig
Maya Abdelaal – MATES
Maya plans to major in Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. Her consistent research over her 4 years at MATES on respiratory-harming bacteria emanating from coastal sea foam has received national recognition. Her projects over the course of her high school years exhibit her consistent passion for research-based solutions to local environmental issues.
Maya’s research has been recognized at the Jersey Shore Science Fair, Delaware Valley Science Fair, and NJ Southern Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. Maya was featured in The Sandpaper for her exceptional research. Maya also developed a biofilm-driven device to remediate contaminated natural water systems such as Barnegat Bay.
Maya is an accomplished leader and athlete. She is team captain for Club football, she volunteers as a core team representative with MATES at summits and conferences for the prevention of teen suicide and coaches special needs children in basketball. Maya is a Hatchling Leader, Tank leader for the MATES, Terrapin project and she works part time at Buff City Soap in Brick where she makes plant-based goods.
Congratulations Maya!
Samantha Cushing – Southern Regional High School
Samantha plans to study Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University, where she hopes to design alternative materials to increase sustainability and protect the environment. An athlete and avid surfer, Samantha is interested in plastics pollution and the exponential growth of microplastics in the ocean.
Samantha is a National Honor Society and French National Honor Society student. She has volunteered at David’s Dream and Believe since she was in middle school, a non-profit providing resources to NJ families affected by a cancer diagnosis She is the recipient of the Outstanding Award in Chemistry and was nominated for the NJ Governor’s School of Engineering. Her mock-trial team, which she is Treasurer of, made school history by advancing to the Ocean County semifinals. She is a Pole Vault champion and a member of the Southern Ocean Regional Soccer team. Samantha is also a George A. Reister Scholarship recipient. She is ranked 4th out of 503 students at Southern Ocean Regional.
Samantha’s work experience has been focused on LBI with part time jobs at California Grill, Bird and Betty, Sandy Avocado Surf Camp and as a Beach Badge checker in Brant Beach.
Congratulations, Samantha!
Amalie Werner – MATES
Amalie plans to study Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University. The biomedical program includes developing useful products and problem-solving for medical advancements. These solutions are mostly the result of plants and invertebrate extractions.
Amalie has focused her independent research projects at MATES on the flooding events on LBI as well as Wildfires and Prescribed Burns on Pine Barrens soils and Pygmy Pine Forest succession rates. Amalie is president of MATES class Government and has been a member of the Southern Ocean Regional Girls swim team for 4 years, Captain in her senior year.
She is a surf school instructor on LBI and a volunteer with Alliance for a Living Ocean. She works part time at Mud City.
Congratulations Amalie!
2024 Garden Club of LBI Scholarship Winner
Photo by Jeannette Michelson
Caroline Liebmann, 2024 Garden Club of LBI Scholarship winner with Maryann Chatfield Scholarship committee chair.
Submitted by Gillian Rozicer
Lacey Township High School (MATES) graduate Caroline Liebmann has been named the Garden Club of LBI’s scholarship recipient for 2024. She is beginning her fall semester at King’s College, PA majoring in environmental engineering.
Among her research experience, the Forked River resident extracted and quantified microplastics from Barnegat Bay to present at Stockton University, and developed a methodology for extracting microplastics from local beaches. She has worked at Project Terrapin events, presenting at the Holgate Marine Field Station and instructing at Clean Ocean Action’s Fall Student Summit.
Caroline’s professional goals include designing and implementing solutions for environmental health and encouraging sustainable practices on a community-wide scale. She is a National Honor Society inductee and a commended student in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
From 2022 to 2024 Caroline was the Drum Major of her high school band, directing practices and teaching new members the skills necessary to succeed. She is a licensed boater and plays piano, trumpet and bass guitar.
” I am excited to be studying environmental science at King’s College,” Caroline said. “I will be participating in the 3+2 engineering progarm, earning a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and environmental engineering.”
The Garden Club’s Scholarship Program is for high school seniors who wish to pursue studies in environmental and/or horticultural college programs. Caroline joins Sarah Neil(2022) and Nicholas Guerriero(2023) in the program.
2023 Garden Club of LBI Scholarship Winner
Photo by Gillian Rozicer
Congratulations to MATES graduate Nicholas Guerriero of Surf City on being named The Garden Club of LBI’s scholarship recipient for 2023. Nicholas will attend Stockton University in the fall in the Accelerated Dual Degree program in Environmental Science. He is a native of Surf City, as is his mother.
For the summer, Nicholas is working at the Barnegat Oyster Collective, the Bayview Marina leading echo kayak tours and as a paid intern with Re-Clam the Bay and Save Barnegat Bay.
The scholarship is for $1000 each year and is renewable each year the student is in school. Sarah Neil, The Garden Club’s 2022 recipient, is continuing her studies at College of New Jersey and received $1,000 for her second year.
The scholarship will amount to $4,000 over the course of each recipient’s education.
The Garden Club of Long Beach Island
2024 Scholarship Application is now available!
Please click here to print the 2024 Scholarship Application!
If you know of a worthy candidate, please contact Claire Hennig at [email protected].