THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — Nicholls State University's Department of Biological Sciences has established a scholarship fund in memory of a Nicholls graduate who died earlier this month after a fall while hiking in the Andes Mountains.

The university said Wednesday that Rachel Ianni (ih AHN ih) was a 2011 graduate of Nicholls' marine and environmental biology master's program.

The memorial funds will go toward travel scholarships for marine and environmental biology students.

While at Nicholls, Ianni worked on a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries project to remove invasive tilapias from a Port Sulphur canal system. She also was a teaching assistant for a University Honors course in Costa Rica. Her Nicholls degree led her to jobs with the Indiana Dunes National Forest, Chicago Public Schools and The Field Museum of Chicago.