Athennah Jones

Athennah Jones received the 2026 HHCF Scholarship as a student in Missouri Southern State University’s Environmental Health and Safety program. The award amount was increased to $2,500 this year. Dr. Teresa Boman, EHS Program Director at MSSU, selected Athennah for the award, and the scholarship was mailed to her in May 2026.

In her essay, Athennah traced her path into environmental public health back to becoming a Girl Scout at age six and continuing through the program after high school — countless hours outdoors and community projects that, in her words, helped her “understand the importance of taking care of what we have.” Environmental science classes in high school and college solidified her love of conservation, and her volunteer work in Girl Scouts gave her an early taste of the connection that comes from making a positive impact on others’ lives.

Athennah currently serves as EHS Club President at MSSU and is interning with the Jasper County Health Department and the Joplin Health Department, where she has gone into the field on food, lodging, and septic inspections, and lead testing. She wrote that watching Environmental Public Health Practitioners work has solidified her focus on public health as a career — and that the variety of the work, where no two inspections are the same, suits her. Her coursework in Epidemiology, Food Safety, and Soils, paired with her fieldwork, has shaped her intention to serve communities as an Environmental Public Health Practitioner.

Congratulations, Athennah! Your path from Girl Scouts at six years old to EHS Club President and a working internship is exactly the kind of long, deliberate commitment to environmental public health this scholarship was created to recognize. We look forward to seeing the communities you serve as you finish at MSSU and step into the field!