Holly Muir, a 2016 graduate of Worcester College in Fine Art, will be the first ever Sachs Scholar at Princeton from Worcester. Shannon Osaka ‘17, an independent major whose passion for research at the intersection of climate science and the social sciences is just too big to fit within any single Princeton department, will be the Worcester Scholar.

A dual British and New Zealand national with roots in rural Scotland, Holly has a First Class degree and an impressive record of accomplishment as a multidisciplinary artist. In between award-winning exhibitions at museums and festivals in London, Newcastle, and Oxford, she designs sets and costumes for the Royal Opera House and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her ambition is to expand her artistic vision by studying—and making—literature. She will spend her scholarship year as a Visiting Student in the Graduate School in the Department of English, and she also plans to get involved in creative writing and visual arts projects at the Lewis Center for the Arts.

Joining Chair Matthew Stewart (1985) on the selection committee were David Loevner (1976), Jonathan Bate (Provost), Scott Scullion (Senior Tutor), and Laura Ashe (Tutor in English). 11 applications were received and 4 exceptional candidates were interviewed. Holly’s application has received vigorous approval from the Princeton Graduate School and the Department of English.

Shannon Osaka ’17 has dedicated her work to the proposition that climate change poses both a scientific and a social challenge for humanity. At Princeton she has accumulated academic awards and dauntingly high marks in both the natural sciences and the social sciences. At Oxford, she plans to pursue an MPhil in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance. When she’s not working to save the planet, she writes poetry, for which she has also received awards. On campus, she is the leader of both the Princeton Sustainable Investments Initiative and the Calendar Reform Project.