Two rising juniors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have won Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Ben Edwards of Knightdale, N.C., and Ben Bogardus of Cullowhee, N.C., each will receive $8,000 in academic assistance during their junior and senior years.

The Hollings scholarship program also provides them with a 10-week paid summer internship at NOAA or a partner facility. The awards are designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science, boost public understanding and support for stewardship of the ocean and atmosphere, and improve environmental literacy.

Edwards is pursuing a major in environmental science and a minor in marine sciences. He is a Carolina Scholar and a National Marine Science Bowl state champion. He is also a lab technician at the School of Public Health. In 2005, he spent eight weeks at the Dauphin Island, Ala., Sea Lab Summer Program, where he conducted and presented field-based marine science research.

Bogardus is pursuing a major in environmental science and a minor in geology. He has been accepted this summer at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, an ecological research and education center located in the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park. He serves as a research assistant for the UNC geography department on a dam and stream restoration study in Chapel Hill and the Adirondacks.

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.