John Cornely Student Travel Scholarship

Dr. John Cornely was a passionate swan enthusiast whose core beliefs included using sound science and the education and mentoring of students and young professionals.

The Trumpeter Swan Society is pleased to announce this campaign to create a travel scholarship, in John’s name, to help graduate students and early career professionals participate in Trumpeter Swan Society Conferences.

Wildlife conservation is important to you. It was important to John too.

The new John E. Cornely Student Travel Scholarship will recognize student contributions to swan research, encourage them to pursue swan conservation as a career, and connect them with other swan biologists and conservationists. Qualified students and early career professionals will receive financial support to participate in Trumpeter Swan Society Conferences.

The goal through this scholarship is to encourage students to engage in the critical work of swan conservation, as John did.

John was a long-term member of The Trumpeter Swan Society, joining in the early 1980s. After he retired from a distinguished career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he served as our Executive Director from 2007-2013. Before that, John served on the Society board from 1993-1999. He continued working, in a volunteer capacity, as TTSS Senior Conservation Advisor and Conservation Committee Member after retiring as Executive Director. John also served as a Board Member of the FWS Retirees Association, Chairperson of its Oral History Committee; and as an Emeritus Member on the Board of Directors for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. John passed away on October 13, 2023.

Your gift today to fund the John E. Cornely Student Travel Scholarship will honor John’s legacy and his commitment to swans, science and students.

Your gift of any size will be matched up to $6,800 through challenge funds. Our goal is $20,000. Your generous gift today will make it possible to support at least two students' participation at conferences for years to come.

John's emails always ended with this quote, which in many ways captured who John was in life:

"Life is short and we have not too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us.  Oh, be swift to love.  Make haste to be Kind"   Henri Frederic Amiel, 1868 

Your gift will gladden the hearts of students for years to come.

Please join with John Cornely’s colleagues, friends, and family in making your most generous gift before June 30, 2024.