Red Barrington was one of the founding members of Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers back in 1987.  From the very beginning, Red was involved with teaching our fly-fishing, fly-casting and fly-tying classes … especially for our youth programs.  Red collaborated with other club members and persuaded them to participate in the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Aquatic Education program. Several club members were certified and maintained their certifications for many years.

When Red Barrington lost his battle with skin cancer in 1999, the club suffered a great loss and, wanting to continue Red’s legacy of involving people in aquatic education, we instituted a memorial scholarship fund.

The Process
Every year in the late winter, every professor in the biological or environmental sciences, in every college and university in the state of Kentucky is sent a notification of the availability of the scholarship.  They are encouraged to notify their students of the scholarship.

Students submit their proposals by mid-April and announcement of the winner in made in early May.

For a complete set of eligibility requirements and application format please click HERE

Peg Barrington and Derek Filipek a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, the 2018 Red Barrington Scholarship winner.

From left to right, Peg Barrington (Red Barrington’s wife), Josh Lillard (Red’s nephew), Rachel Prokopius – the 2017 Scholarship Winner 

Who Benefits from the Scholarship
The Red Barrington Scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student in the biological or environmental sciences.  The student must be enrolled in a college or university in the state of Kentucky.  The student must be engaged in a research project that is judged by their supervising faculty as evidence of the student’s outstanding potential for research that will have a major impact on the environment.  Water quality and aquatic biology are examples of such areas of research.  For a complete set of eligibility requirements and application format please click HERE.

Funding
We have established an endowment to help fund the scholarship.  In addition, every year we hold spectacular raffles and the funds from these raffles go entirely to support the scholarship.


Pictured from left to right is Josh Lillard, Peg Barrington, Red Barrington’s widow, and Rachel Fedders, the 2016 Red Barrington Scholarship winner.

Pictured from left to right is Peg Barrington, Red Barrington’s widow, Andrea Sejdic, the 2015 Red Barrington Scholarship winner and Tom Bader, president of NKFF.