The $5000 scholarship recognises the contribution of Jenny Liney OAM, who sadly passed away in June, to the development and maintenance of the Wallace Herbarium at the Eurobodalla REgional Botanic Gardens.

The 2022 scholarship was jointly awarded to Dalmeny's Tess Poyner and Moruya's Luke Wiggins. Tess is an avid wildlife photographer studying a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Charles Darwin University, and Luke is also studying environmental science at the University of Newcastle.

More information about the scholarship, including the application form, can be found here.

Luke Wiggins is in his final year of environmental science, and said the Jenny Liney Scholarship had allowed him to complete unpaid placements.

"It's not a requirement for the degree, but it's a massive advantage when you're trying to get work," he said.

"If you don't have experience, most jobs won't consider you. I did one placement at a council and one with a private environmental engineering firm called WSP.

"At the council I did environment and waste management which was pretty interesting. It was a lot of monitoring and managing the local environmental community and managing the landfill.

"At WSP I was in planning, working with companies and larger-scale projects to assess the potential environmental impacts and trying to achieve the best environmental outcomes."

Mr Wiggins said his upbringing on a farm just outside Moruya helped guide him into the natural sciences as a career.

"I always had a strong appreciation for the natural landscape, environment, and natural sciences," he said.

"I've always felt it was very important to conserve what we've been given. That's what brought me into environmental science."

Mr Wiggins said the grant was a "great initiative" to help people get into careers with a "positive environmental outcome".

Tess Poyner grew up in Dalmeny in a family that "loved the outdoors".

From a young age, Tess was out with a camera taking photos of any creature she could.

"I've always been really interested and passionate about the environment and wildlife," she said. "I've been doing photography for many years now which made me very interested in our natural world.

"I finished school in 2020, had a gap year to travel around Australia taking photos and looking for wildlife, then started doing a Bachelor of Science at James Cook University.

"I've just switched to Charles Darwin University to do a Bachelor of Environmental Science."

The switch has meant a move to Darwin, and Tess said the Jenny Liney Scholarship helped make the move as smooth as possible.

"I'm grateful I was able to get it," she said. "It reduced the stress of everything at uni, especially with moving to a new place, finding a place to rent, setting everything up and getting all my new books.

"It's allowed me to settle in without having to worry too much."

Tess starts at CDU later this month, and has recently spent a week near Darwin working with sea turtles.

"We looked at the nesting turtles who are laying and their hatchlings," she said. "We measured, tagged, that sort of thing.

"Reptiles are my favourite, I've really focused on snakes and lizards. (I take photos of) stuff that has a misconception, animals that are feared like insects and spiders."

Like Mr Wiggins, Ms Poyner said her upbringing in Dalmeny helped guide her love for nature.

"I was super fortunate to grow up down south," she said. "My family was always camping, boating or bushwalking, just being in the environment, and I knew I wanted to do something with wildlife and the environment from a young age."