FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Chelsea Kross, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences, was selected to receive a $15,000 Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholar Award for the 2019-20 academic year. She was sponsored by Chapter A of Eureka Springs, which was the first P.E.O. chapter in Arkansas.

Kross said part of her award will go toward conference travel, school fees, and summer support while she writes her dissertation.

"I am so excited and honored to be recognized as a P.E.O. Scholar, and I am thankful for the opportunities the organization provides for women scholars," Kross said. "Chapter A was so supportive during the nomination and application process and I would not have had this opportunity without their encouragement and backing."

The Scholar Award is to support women in the last two years of their dissertation. Kross received the award for her work on the conservation and ecology of the crawfish frog, an imperiled amphibian found in Arkansas.

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded Jan. 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.