A student from Sackville has been awarded a big honour from Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Anna MacKinnon has received one of three Wetland Centre for Excellence Scholarships.

She is a first-year student at the Maritime College of Forest Technology in Fredericton.

MacKinnon volunteered at the Tantramar Wetland Centre of Excellence program during high school as a wetland field trip leader.

Her lifelong passion was sparked from day one when she watched two people banding waterfowl.

“I remember thinking, ‘I want to be like them, this is what I’m meant to do,'” MacKinnon said in a news release.

From there, she forged her path to post-secondary conservation education, landing her first-choice program.

MacKinnon said her passion is in forestry, environmental conservation, and wildlife preservation.

“I get to take courses in all of these things. I’m over-the-moon excited,” she said.

Ducks Unlimited Canada awards three $1,000 post-secondary scholarships each year to past Wetland Centre of Excellence program participants.