Joseph W. Masse Environmental Scholarship

The Dennis Conservation Land Trust (DCLT) is pleased to announce the third year of its Joseph W. Masse Environmental Scholarship. These competitive $2,500 Scholarships will be awarded to two seniors at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School (DYRHS). They are intended for college- or university-bound environmental science students who have shown academic promise, a burgeoning love for Cape Cod’s environment, and a demonstrated need for financial assistance.

Encouraged to apply are DYRHS students meeting the following criteria:
• Current senior at DYRHS graduating this June.
• Committed to attending an accredited college or university this autumn.
• Chosen a major in one of the following fields: Environmental Science, Ecology, Natural Resources, Biological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, or similar fields.
• Demonstrated financial need.

Especially encouraged to apply are students actively involved in the DYRHS Environmental Club.

Applicants should submit a resume and a one-page cover letter outlining their connection with the local environment; their short-term career goals, including college plans and chosen major(s); and a need for financial assistance. Please submit materials to DCLT’s Executive Director, David Fryxell, by email: dfryxell@DennisConservationLandTrust.org. Applications will be reviewed on a nondiscriminatory, competitive basis, and will be accepted through May 15, 2026. The award will be announced in early June and funds disbursed upon the awardee’s commitment to using the Scholarship funds exclusively for educational purposes.

About Joseph W. Masse

Joe Masse was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in Rehoboth, MA, a town twice the area
of Dennis filled with farms and open space. It was in Rehoboth, surrounded by hundreds of acres of open
space, where he developed a deep-seated love and respect for the environment.
Joe attended high school at Coyle High in Taunton, MA, before completing a Liberal Arts degree at
Providence College. After serving in the U.S. Army, Joe went to work for Warner Lambert in Morris Plains, New Jersey. When Pfizer acquired Warner Lambert in 2000, Joe, then a President of the company, was offered and accepted early retirement. He and his wife Rosemary relocated to Dennis, MA, just 70 miles from his original home in Rehoboth. In 2003, Joe was elected a Trustee of the Dennis Conservation Land Trust. Joe played an important role in the successful acquisition of Crowes Pasture Conservation Area, today, and likely forever, the largest conservation area in Dennis. Joe has served as a Trustee for 21 years and is the Trust’s second-longest-serving President. In this tenure, he has overseen the permanent protection of 264 acres of land in Dennis, including one of its most recent and important acquisitions, Not Enough Acres Farm, from which the DCLT now operates its Summer Science Fair Internship Program and Environmental Study Center.

Joe will be the first to tell you, despite the business success he achieved during his time at Warner Lambert, his involvement in the protection and care of open space and the effect open space has on ensuring a healthy environment beneficial to all the creatures that inhabit the town of Dennis, is the legacy of which he is most proud.

“We are on Earth to take care of life. We are on Earth to take care of each other? – Xiye Bastida