Maille E. Radford ’17, Julius G. Bright Ross ’17, and Reylon A. Yount ’16 felt shock, followed by gratitude, when they found out they had been chosen as recipients for Marshall Scholarships.

The Marshall Scholarship, which funds post-graduate study in the United Kingdom, was created after World War II and founded by the British Parliament. Radford, Ross and Yount are three of 40 students from the United States selected for 2017 scholarships.

Radford, a resident of Dunster House, plans to study curatorial studies and the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She grew up in Dallas, Texas, and said she was interested in art preservation from an early age. When it came time to decide on her field of study at Harvard, she applied for a joint concentration in Chemistry and the History of Art and Architecture.

Bright Ross, who grew up on Easter Island in the South Pacific, said he is also passionate about conservation, but of a different kind. He said witnessing a doubling of the island’s population, and seeing natural resources dwindle caused him to develop an interest in wildlife protection. An Integrative Biology concentrator in Adams House, he hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Oxford.

“In a perfect world, I wouldn’t be needed as a conservationist, because everyone would understand how we fit into the ecosystems around us, so I feel like the first step in moving towards that goal is to really understand natural ecosystems and ecology,” Bright Ross said.

Yount, a Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrator in Lowell House, hopes to pursue an M.A. in Music in Development at SOAS, University of London.

Yount, who is from San Francisco, said he is passionate about the intersection between arts and sustainable development. He plays the yangqin, or Chinese dulcimer, and is also a part of the Silk Road Ensemble, a music group created by cellist Yo-Yo Ma ’76.

“There are a lot of artists who work to create the cultural conditions needed to build strong mindful communities, and my goal is to eventually go into arts management or producing to elevate that kind of work,” Yount said. “I’m excited to make a lot of music.”

All three students described how they felt in shock upon hearing they were selected as recipients. Radford said she called her parents right away, and Yount explained how receiving the award made him think about all the teachers who have helped him reach this achievement.

“It’s an incredible vote of confidence and it’s very galvanizing,” Yount said. “I feel like we have something to say and people are hearing it.”

—Staff writer Menaka V. Narayanan can be reached at menaka.narayanan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mnarayanan97.