Barlow Trophy Winner Combines Interests in Science, Food Recovery
President Jeff Abernathy awards the Barlow Trophy to Hannah Jeffery.Hannah Jeffery of Highland is the 2018 recipient of the Barlow Trophy, Alma College’s most prestigious award for a graduating senior.
The award, which is voted on by Student Congress and faculty members, is presented to a graduating student in the top 10 percent of the senior class who has made incredible contributions to both the campus and the community.
Jeffery has devoted much of her Alma experience to scientific study while also advocating for food recovery. She will graduate with majors in biotechnology and French. She plans to continue her education in the Michigan State University plant sciences graduate program.
Her academic work has included research in plant genomics at a National Science Foundation-funded summer program at MSU, community research presentations on E. coli loading in the Pine River, and a semester study-abroad experience in Rennes, France, to enhance her French language skills.
Jeffery also has mobilized Alma students to take action against food waste. As president of the Alma College Food Recovery Network, she recruits and manages volunteers who deliver uneaten food from Alma’s food commons to local non-profits that provide food to families in need.
She is a member of the Presidential Honors Program and the honor societies for chemistry, biology and foreign language. In addition, she has memberships in the biology, chemistry, French and math clubs.
A graduate of International Academy West in White Lake, she is the daughter of Ray and Jeanne Jeffery.