Carson Thomas Bryan of Red Wing is the first-place recipient of the 2016 Clean Air Choice Biodiesel Essay Scholarship. The scholarship, open to all high school seniors in Minnesota, is sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and administered by the American Lung Association in Minnesota.  Bryan’s winning essay was selected from nearly 100 applications statewide. The son of Tom and Renae Bryan and a recent graduate of Red Wing High School, Carson has been active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America from a young age.  He played football, baseball and basketball for the Red Wingers.

“We need to take steps now to help sustain our environment,” Bryan wrote in his winning essay. “One step we can take now, in Minnesota and throughout the United States, is to increase our usage of biodiesel.”

Bryan will receive a $1,000 scholarship for his essay, which he plans to use to study ag business at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities.

Cameron Boen of Bemidji was the second-place recipient.  He plans to attend classes at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.