Each year the Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited awards a one-time scholarship, currently $3,000, to a graduating senior from a public high school in Santa Fe, Los Alamos or Española who is heading into a STEM major in college. The award is merit based and goes toward qualifying higher education expenses: tuition, books, fees, room and board.
The chapter established the scholarship in 2024 to support future science and conservation leaders from our own communities. In 2026 it was renamed in honor of Dr. Arnold Atkins, a longtime Truchas member.
Who was Dr. Arnold Atkins
Arnold Atkins grew up in Española and Los Alamos, caught his first trout at Hopewell Lake as a boy, and spent a lifetime on New Mexico water. He built a career in medicine, training at Rice University and Tulane Medical School and practicing as a general surgeon in Oregon and Washington before returning to Santa Fe in 1998 and moving into emergency medicine. He joined Trout Unlimited while living in the Pacific Northwest, when the nearest chapter meeting was a ninety-mile drive, and when he came home he found the Truchas Chapter essentially defunct and helped put it back on its feet. He served as the chapter’s fourth president and helped found Trout in the Classroom, which has since grown to serve dozens of schools across the state.
(Source: his own account, “From Scalpels to Split Shot: A Life on the Fly,” as told to Jeff Weber.)
Who can apply
- Seniors graduating in the spring from a public high school in Santa Fe, Los Alamos or Española
- Planning to pursue a STEM major (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) in college that fall
- Priority is given to students who express a desire to work in sciences important to Trout Unlimited’s mission of protecting cold-water fisheries and fish
The scholarship committee weighs academic record, service to the community, and teacher recommendations.
What the award covers
A one-time grant, currently $3,000, paid for qualifying higher education expenses (tuition, books, fees, room and board). The chapter sets the amount each year as part of its budget.
How to apply
- Download the application from this page. It is posted every year on December 1.
- Complete it and send it to the chapter by March 15, the following spring. Email is preferred. US Mail is accepted.
- The scholarship committee reviews all applications together after the deadline, so it can compare applicants side by side. We announce the recipient in the spring.
Email: [email protected]
US Mail: Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited, P.O. Box 6487, Santa Fe, NM 87502
Questions are welcome at [email protected].
Past recipients
- 2026 — Robin Hickerson, Mandela International Magnet School. Cared for her school’s Trout in the Classroom tank of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout and helped release the fingerlings into the Rio Grande. Studying biology and nursing.
- 2025 — Erin Lucio, Capital High School. Recognized at the chapter’s “Casting for the Future” event at La Fonda. Studying nursing at the University of New Mexico.
- 2024 — Fabian Larranaga, Monte del Sol Charter School (inaugural award). Studying solar energy generation at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Scholarship news
Announcements, application openings and recipient stories are posted to the chapter blog each year.
Support the scholarship
Every scholarship the chapter awards comes from members and donors in northern New Mexico. If you would like a student from Santa Fe, Los Alamos or Española to carry the conservation ethic into a science career, you can help fund the next one.
Teachers and counselors: if you work with a student who fits, please pass this page along. Word of mouth from a classroom is how most of our applicants find us.
Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited, a local membership of around 400 and the national organization of more than 300,000 members, is dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s cold-water fisheries and their watersheds.