Richard Dumouchel Scholarship

In honor of our beloved trustee, Richard Dumouchel, the Foundation awards one URI student with a scholarship to pursue an education in conservation.

  • Joseph Truppi is a senior at the University of Rhode Island studying Environmental Science and Management. He grew up in Coventry, Rhode Island and spends many days on the water or in the woods. You can find him fishing, kayaking, hiking, birding, and on the golf course.

    In 2023, Joseph had his first field season working as a Biology Intern with U.S Fish and Wildlife Service right in Charlestown, Rhode Island. He spent the summer trapping spotted turtles, conducting saltmarsh restoration on the Narrow River, banding Salt-Marsh Sparrows, and monitoring New England Cottontails with radio collars. This past summer he worked again with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service as a Shorebird Technician monitoring Piping Plovers and Least Terns. Many days consisted of checking on nests, monitoring chicks that have hatched, and interacting with the public and answering questions they had. Several days were spent rounding up and banding American Oystercatcher Chicks on Sandy Point Island. Between days of work, Joseph also spends much of his time volunteering with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. From conducting bass population surveys and Diamondback Terrapin surveys, to banding ducks and geese, and counting herring in the Saugatucket River.

    In the time that he’s not at work or volunteering with RI DEM, you may catch him making donuts at the infamous Allie’s Donuts where he makes all the donuts fresh. In the future, he hopes to continue his work in conservation.

  • 2023: Anya Almeida

    2022: Patrick Felkner

    2021: Kylie Rezendes

    2020: Emma Paton

    2019: Alicia Jones

    2018: Sadie DeCurtis

    2017: Ryan Healy

    2016: Anthony “Ant” Sawaia

    2015: Gillian Baird

    2014: Mary Grande

    2013: Marianne Diffin

    2012: Joshua Sargent

    2011: Ryan Kleinert

    2010: Charleve Carey

    2009: Cynthia Maynard

    2008: Ben Vinhateiro

    2007: Samantha Petzold

    2006: Malcolm Grant

    2005: Grace Lentini

    2004: Jeffrey Backer

  • To be eligible, a student must be majoring in either Environmental Science and Management or Wildlife and Conservation Biology and have grown up in Westerly or Washington County RI.

    A committee of URI NRS faculty members reviews and ranks the eligible applicants based on their resumes, their experience working on conservation projects, their GPA, and their commitment to conservation.  Nominees are forwarded to the Weekapaug Foundation for Conservation for consideration.

Hugh H. Hoffman Scholarship

In memory of Hugh H. Hoffman, a longtime Weekapaug resident and a lifelong environmentalist and friend of the Foundation, each year the Weekapaug Foundation awards a University of Rhode Island Natural Resources Science (NRS) student with a scholarship for their studies. This is a new scholarship, based on a bequest from Mr. Hoffman and his beloved family. The scholarship award will begin in the summer of 2025.