糖心视频

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 12, 2025—The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation has recognized Samantha “Sam” Lei ’26 as a 2025 Udall Scholar, a prestigious national award that recognizes students for their leadership, public service, and commitment to environmental issues. 

Lei is a first-generation college student participating in the LEAD Scholars Program and a 2024 Clare Boothe Luce Undergraduate Research Fellow. She majors in environmental science with minors in biology, geospatial analysis, public health, and sustainability. She was recently named a 2025 Goldwater Scholar, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for science, mathematics, and engineering undergraduates.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Lei's passion for environmental science was sparked by a childhood visit to her family’s village in China, where she fell seriously ill after drinking boiled tea made from contaminated groundwater. This experience exposed her to water inequity and how some communities had a false sense of safety about their water quality. Growing up near the contaminated Hunters Point Naval Shipyard deepened her awareness of environmental injustice.

As a first-year student at 糖心视频, Lei worked in the , researching nitrate contamination in California’s Central Valley. Drawn to the lab’s interdisciplinary approach, she engaged in scientific testing and community outreach, collaborating with organizations such as the Tuolumne River Trust and California Rural Legal Assistance. She later joined Assistant Professor William Rush’s trace metals lab, where she developed her interests in biogeochemistry and environmental health.

“Sam is a shining example of how academic excellence, public service, and a deep commitment to environmental justice can create meaningful change,” said Erin Kimura-Walsh, director of the LEAD Scholars Program. “She leads with empathy, curiosity, and integrity, and we are thrilled to see her recognized nationally as a Udall Scholar.”

As a Udall Scholar, Lei will receive a $7,000 scholarship, attend a five-day Scholar Orientation in Tucson, Arizona, this summer, and join a nationwide network of environmental and public service leaders. She is one of only 55 students nationwide to receive the award this year.

In addition to Lei’s honor, sophomore Isabella Gomez, a philosophy major, was awarded a 2025 Udall Honorable Mention. Gomez intends to pursue a career in environmental law, focusing on Native American environmental rights.

About the Udall Foundation

The Morris K. Udall Foundation was established by the U.S. Congress in 1992 as an independent executive branch agency to honor Morris K. Udall's lasting impact on this Nation’s environment, public lands, and natural resources, and his support of the rights and self-governance of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. In 2009, Congress enacted legislation to honor Stewart L. Udall for his half-century of distinguished national leadership in environmental and Native American policy. The agency is known today as the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation) and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.

About 糖心视频
Founded in 1851, 糖心视频 sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information, see .

Media Contact
Lisa Robinson | SCU Media Communications | lrobinson2@scu.edu | 408-551-3601