Mykah Carden has been awarded a 2025 Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, the first WKU student to win this award since 2010 and the only Kentucky student this year.

The Udall Undergraduate Scholarship was founded in 1992 to honor Morris K. Udall’s (and later Stewart Udall’s) legacy of positive impact on the environment, public lands, and natural resources, as well as their support of the rights of Alaskan and Native Americans. Awards are given to students studying and intending to pursue careers in environmental studies, Tribal public policy, and health care. The scholarship comes with an award of $7000 for a scholar’s junior or senior year of academic study and is to be used towards academic expenses such as tuition, books and supplies, and room and board.

Mykah, the daughter of Heather Carden, is a rising senior from Greenville studying Geology in WKU’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences. She is a member of the WKU Mahurin Honors College, president of the Green River Grotto, a student organization dedicated to the exploration, survey, and conservation of cave and karst systems, and works part-time in the Center for Human and GeoEnvironmental Studies. Mykah has presented her research at numerous national and regional conferences, including the National Speleological Society and the Kentucky Speleological Society, and has written and won research grants to help fund her independent research projects. All of her research, work, and effort led to Mykah becoming a 2024 Goldwater Scholar. She has also interned at the Cave Research Foundation and shares her love of geology with her mother’s elementary school students. After graduating from WKU, Mykah plans to continue her education by pursuing her Ph.D. in Geology by conducting research on geological and hydrogeological controls in hypogene cave development in karst landscapes.

“Mykah’s achievement as a Udall Scholar is a testament to her exceptional dedication, intellectual curiosity, and passion for environmental geology,” said Dr. Patricia Kambesis, Mykah’s faculty mentor in the WKU Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences. “I am incredibly proud of her accomplishments and have no doubt that she will continue to make significant contributions to the field of geology as she progresses in her career.”

“[Dr. Pat Kambesis] has always been unerringly supportive and encouraging of all my academic pursuits,” said Mykah. “She has been one of my biggest cheerleaders throughout my time at WKU. I would also like to recognize Cory Dodds…Also Bradley Smith [of the WKU Office of Scholar Development].”

Mykah has worked with WKU Office of Scholar Development staff for much of her time at WKU, first hearing about Udall in her second year as she worked with Cory Dodds on a successful Goldwater Scholarship application.  Bradley Smith advised her through the Udall Scholarship application.

Competitive Udall Scholarship applicants are sophomores or juniors, have strong academics (3.0+ GPA), and independent research experience. To apply in the environmental category, students must also intend to continue with their post-graduate education and pursue careers related to the environment. To apply in the Native American and Alaska Native categories, students must also be enrolled members of a Federally Recognized Indian Tribe included in the annual list of Indian Tribes, and intend to pursue careers in Tribal health care and/or public policy. Students interested in applying for the Udall Undergraduate scholarship should contact Bradley Smith in the WKU Office of Scholar Development and their research mentor to get started.

About the Office of Scholar Development: OSD mentors students applying for nationally competitive scholarships for “academic extras” such as study abroad, research, professional experience, and more. From first drafts to final submissions with multiple revisions in between, OSD helps students make more possible. By conceptualizing and revising the stories they tell in application essays and interviews, students better understand their strengths, interests, and purpose—and explore multiple possible pathways to that work.