GREENVILLE, PA – Three Thiel College women will have the opportunity to study abroad this summer after being awarded Vira I. Heinz Scholarships for Education Abroad for 2008.

The three scholarship winners—Amanda Colvin of Cambridge Springs, Ellen Greis of South Park, and Anne Fowler of Allison Park—will each receive $5,000 to study abroad during the upcoming summer. 

Colvin, a sophomore biology and secondary education major, will use the award to study in Australearn’s “Tropical Marine Ecology” summer program, during which she will study tropical marine biology through formal lectures and practical field experiences around Queensland, Australia. She will have the opportunity to explore rainforests, the Outback and the Great Barrier Reef, among other activities.

“It is a biologist’s dream to see such greatness,” says Colvin. “It is hard to comprehend that the experiences I will have, which sound so fun, are actually a class.”

Colvin, a 2006 graduate of Cambridge Springs High School, is the daughter of Larry Colvin and Deb Foister of Cambridge Springs.

Greis, a junior English and secondary education major and a theatre minor, intends to study Irish theatre and culture at National University of Ireland in Galway through a program offered by the University Studies Abroad Consortium. Greis plans on taking two courses, “Restaging Irishness: Pasts, Presents and Futures of Irish Theatre” and “Troubling the Past: The Rise of the Modern Irish Nation.”

“I have been interested in Ireland my whole life and I cherish the opportunity to study the country’s rich heritage,” said Greis. “In addition to the educational opportunities that studying in Ireland presents, it also opens up a number of leadership opportunities for me as well.”

Greis is a 2005 graduate of South Park High School and is the daughter of Frank and Carol Greis of South Park.

Fowler, a junior art major, will use her scholarship to study at Leuphana University in Luneburg, Germany through the University Studies Abroad Consortium. Fowler will take German language and culture classes in an effort to better appreciate and understand the country. She also plans to explore Luneburg’s small, vibrant art community and to travel to larger cities such as Berlin and Munich to explore their museums and galleries.

“Art has always been my passion and I am fascinated by the German way of expressing modern art,” said Fowler. “I want to get a true, real feeling for this culture so that I can develop a new scope of thinking and creating that I can carry with me for the rest of my artistic career and my life.”

Fowler, a 2005 graduate of North Allegheny High School in Wexford, is the daughter of Walt and Mary Fowler of Allison Park.

The Vira I. Heinz Scholarship for Education Abroad award is funded by the Heinz Endowments and is granted to three junior women students for summer study and travel abroad. It is intended to enrich each student’s academic program, provide opportunity to travel in a foreign country and improve international understanding.

The Heinz Endowments supports efforts to make southwestern Pennsylvania a premier place to live and work, a center of learning and educational excellence, and a home to diversity and inclusion. Committed to helping its region thrive as a whole community—economically, ecologically, educationally and culturally—the foundation works within Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the nation to develop solutions to challenges that are national and even international in scope. One of the largest and most innovative independent philanthropic foundations in the country, the Endowments awarded more than $84 million in grants in 2007.

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