Tuscaloosa Native, Central Alum Earns Prestigious Udall Scholarship

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa native and Central High School alum Benjamin Trost, a junior at the University of Alabama, has been selected to receive the prestigious Udall Undergraduate Scholarship.

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Trost was among 55 college students from around the nation to receive the scholarship, which is presented to future leaders in environmental, tribal public policy and health care fields.

Trost, an Honors College student majoring in biology as well as interdisciplinary studies through New College with a minor in the Blount Scholars Program, is the first UA student to receive the Udall Scholarship in 23 years.

He has collaborated with the Black Warrior Riverkeeper on water quality advocacy projects and published research on the politics of plant conservation. Trost has also investigated histories of environmental racism in the South as a 2024-2025 Rachel Carson Council National Environmental Leadership Fellow.

“Receiving this award solidifies my belief that there is important environmental work happening in Alabama, a state that often gets left out of the national environmentalist spotlight,” Trost said. “I will use the resources from the Udall Scholarship to continue platforming for our state’s incredible biodiversity and highlighting citizens’ parallel struggle for environmental justice.”

As part of the Udall Scholar Orientation, Trost will connect with like-minded students as he prepares to apply for graduate programs in environmental studies next year.

“I’m deeply appreciative to the faculty who have mentored me and taught me to see the connections between my interests in environmentalism, Southern history and Queer identity,” Trost said.

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