Natalie Rosenthal Earns Recognition as One of Three UMD Honorees
Natalie Rosenthal, a sophomore at the University of Maryland, has been named one of the 2025 Hollings Scholars by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Rosenthal was selected for this prestigious program for her background in and commitment to environmental sustainability on UMD’s campus and across the state.
The award offers up to $19,000 in financial support and a 10-week paid internship working in a NOAA facility during the summer after junior year. Rosenthal hopes to help monitor natural disasters and engage in field-work to help with rising temperatures in the ocean.
Her sustainability journey began in 2024 when she began interning in the university’s Global Ecology Lab, gaining exposure to the lab’s Campus Forest Carbon Project where she learned about the Ecosystem Demography model, a cutting-edge vegetation ecosystem model used by the lab and NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System, led by Dr. Hurtt in UMD’s Department of Geographical Sciences.
In the following fall and winter semesters, she wrote a successful grant proposal to the University of Maryland Sustainability Fund for the Campus Forest Carbon Project 2.0, an initiative to monitor the annual carbon flux of Maryland's forested lands, inform campus sustainability policies, support tree planting efforts, and foster inter-university collaboration. In February 2025, the project received funding, matched by the Department of Geographical Sciences, and Natalie became the project’s Principal Investigator.
“Forest carbon monitoring is important because it emphasizes the value of trees as they provide vital ecosystem services to the environment around them as well as humans including their ability to sequester carbon,” Rosenthal said. “By being able to provide data on the carbon sequestration of these forested areas we are able to show the benefits of having tree coverage on campus and show the university possible areas that can increase tree plantings.
The experience strengthened her technical skills in remote sensing, pointing her towards NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) in the Department of Commerce. Within this division she hopes to help monitor natural disasters to aid in the rising temperatures in our oceans.
“The ocean is our biggest carbon sink so I think it's really important for understanding how these ecosystems interact with the rest of our environment,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal is an Environmental Science and Policy major with a Wildlife and Ecology Management concentration. She is also a member of the Environment of Technology and Economy College Park Scholars program, a role that enables her to peer mentor for freshmen.
Attracted to hands-on learning, Rosenthal looks forward to meeting and working with students involved in remote sensing. She urges other environmental policy students to get involved on campus and engage with peers in and outside their field of work.
“I think putting myself in rooms with people who are way more experienced, ways smarter than I am who have just all of these amazing skills to offer has been so beneficial because I've learned so much from them, and I've seen how much I've grown in just the last two years,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal is just one of three University of Maryland students selected for the Hollings Scholarship, one of which is an ENSP student like Natalie, “The other two scholars are such interesting and accomplished people as well and I am excited to get to go through this program with them!” she said. With a bright future ahead of her, Rosenthal hopes to take advantage of her opportunities and make a difference towards building a sustainable tomorrow.
