Bill Lane Center Student Ambassador Isaac Nehring awarded Truman Scholarship for work on rural conservation and development
Isaac Nehring, a dedicated Bill Lane Center student ambassador, has won the prestigious 2025 Truman Scholarship. This nationally competitive award supports graduate studies for students committed to public service careers and recognizes Nehring’s impressive contributions to rural conservation and development issues.
A third-year student at Stanford, Nehring has distinguished himself as a thoughtful leader on issues affecting the rural West. Drawing on his Montana roots, he has focused his academic and extracurricular efforts on the intersections of land use, economic development, and environmental conservation. His commitment to public service is rooted in a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities, and his personal experience growing up in and around Montana's public lands.
This summer, Nehring will further that work through a research project supported by the Bill Lane Center. His project, advised by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Lane Center founding co-director David Kennedy, will explore change in Montana through the lens of oral history.
Nehring’s involvement with the Center has been wide-ranging. In 2024, he served as a Sophomore College Assistant for the Center’s "Coastal Resilience in the Face of Climate Change" course, and he has also taken the Center’s flagship American West class on the history, geography, culture, and environmental policy of the region. In 2023, the Center was delighted to send Nehring to the "Radically Rural Conference" in Keene, New Hampshire, where he learned about community agriculture, small family operations, and the problems they’re facing across the country.
"It wasn’t just about struggles, though; I also got to hear many success stories that showcased a lot of creativity, from finding ways to share agrarianism with urban communities to programs supporting former convicts through agriculture and career training," Nehring wrote of the conference.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is awarded annually to outstanding college juniors who demonstrate leadership potential and a commitment to public service. As a Truman Scholar, Nehring will receive funding for graduate school as well as opportunities for mentorship, networking, and professional development with leaders across the public sector.
The Bill Lane Center congratulates Isaac Nehring on this remarkable achievement and looks forward to supporting the next chapter of his work as a scholar, public servant, and advocate for the rural West.
