Buddy & LAURA Blain High School Scholarship

AWRA Florida offers at least one (1) $1,000 scholarship to Florida High School Seniors who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in academic performance and community involvement and have an intent to pursue academic studies in water resources-related fields of geology, engineering, ecology and/or marine biology at a Florida college or university. The scholarship recipient(s) will also be awarded a student membership to AWRA Florida for the following year. The Scholarship(s) will be awarded upon confirmation of enrollment in a Florida college or university. Applications must be received by Friday, April 17, 2026.

Lester "Buddy" Blain was born in Plant City in 1927, as a fourth generation Floridian and great-grandson of the Plant City pioneer Captain Francis William Merrin, who founded The Plant City Courier in 1884. Buddy was instrumental in the enactment of the Florida Water Resources Act and the promulgation of rules that today define and guide water management in Florida. Buddy served as a director and officer of the AWRA Florida and was a nationally recognized expert on water law and resources. Buddy passed away on July 20, 2016.

2026 Application forms are now available and due by Friday, April 17, 2026. Click here to download the application.

2025 Recipients

Annabelle Rawl- Edgewood High School, Titusville, FL

Annabelle is a 2025 honors graduate. She is a member of the National Honor Society, AP Diploma, and Captain of the Varsity Swim Team. She also teaches as a YMCA Lifeguard and Swim Instructor. She will attend the University of Central Florida with an intended major of Biology, Marine Science focus.

Logan Member- Wellington Community High School, Wellington, FL 
Logan will be attending University of Florida, majoring in International Food and Resource Economics as a pathway to Environmental Law. He is captain of the varsity Volleyball team and competed in DECA at the local, state, and international levels. He completed over 450 hours of community service and graduated in the top 5% of his class. He is inspired to study water resources from a summer of his Florida Youth Institute at UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences where he conducted research on water security in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was inspired to select his major.

Cole Phillips- Ft. Lauderdale High School, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Summa cum laude, ranked in the top 1% of his graduating class, Cole is a National Merit Commended Scholar with a Cambridge Diploma with Distinction, AP Scholar Award with Merit, and the AP Capstone Diploma. He is a four-year member of his Varsity baseball team, Plays drums in a rock band, and has been a student member of AWRA Florida throughout high school and frequent volunteer at the Annual Meeting in Key West. Cole will attend the University of Florida.

Past Recipients

2024

2023
Jake Phillips - Fort Lauderdale

2022
No award

2021
Leonardo Torrico - Jupiter

2020
Sydney Cloutier - Pensacola

2019
Ariana Boland - Hollywood

2018
Kelsey Campanelli - Fort Myers

2017
Alexis Preiss - Windermere
James Bible - Sebring

2016
Cole Kolasa - Brooksville

2015
Abby Marion - Deltona

2014
No award

2013
Ryan Herrring - Gainesville
Jake Nagle - Gainesville