2012-13 L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant Recipients

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L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant


Congratulations to the 2012-2013 L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate recipients.

The L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant awards deserving geoscience students and their school or university departments that work with local AAPG Student Chapters a total of $1,000 in financial funding to enrich the education process. 

Students may use their portion of the grant in the amount of $500 to purchase needed equipment, such as rock hammers, camping equipment and more for hands-on exploration, or apply their funds toward tuition fees.  University departments working with local Student Chapters may use their $500 portion of the grant to support the Chapter’s activities, like equipment, conferences and field trips.

Photo: AAPG European Student Chapter students gather in front of a gravel pit of the Late Miocene (Pannonian) delta sediments.

“I will use these funds to sponsor a field trip and/or a guest speaker and/or chapter member attendance at the AAPG meeting in Bakersfield.”                                                                   
                                             --Dr. Kathleen Marsagalia

AAPG membership by students is not required to apply for this grant, but like all of our foundation programs your support is vital to advance the science of petroleum geology through grants and funds that compel interest and, ultimately, a lifelong passion for exploration and discovery.

Our 2012-2013 recipients included 61 students and geoscience departments from colleges and universities.  But with more than 300 Student Chapters now around the world, the AAPG Foundation looks to aggressively expand our reach and leave a lasting footprint on the future of geosciences.

“I cannot tell you how proud and honored I am to have received this award from the local chapter of the AAPG, nor can I completely express my thanks.  It should make a great start on the masters in GIS that I plan to start this fall.”
                                                                                    --Lonnie Treese

 “This grant is intended to fund part of the activities of the AAPG Student Chapter of Cairo University...  These activities include field trips, workshops and self-learning programs.”                                                               --Ahmed El-Barkooky

 “The $500 donated to the University of Aberdeen Student Chapter will go towards our North Scotland Geology Tour. We are welcoming students from Amsterdam, Bucharest and Lisbon to join our own students in a whistle-stop tour of the classic geology of northern Scotland. It will contribute towards travel and accommodation costs during the trip.”

                                                                                    --Mark McKinnon

Grants Size and Usage

The disbursement of the grant will consist of $1,000 per qualified student chapter. Half of the grant will be given to a qualified undergraduate student. The remaining will be given to the geoscience department, and should be used to support educational activities of the Student Chapter, i.e. for equipment, conferences or field trips.

Chapter Requirements

Applications will be accepted for the L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant from chapters who meet the following requirements listed below. Additional details of the Chapter requirements can be found in the AAPG Student Chapter Bylaws and Operations Manual.

The chapter must:

A local Student Chapter committee consisting of not less than three (3) individuals should determine the student recipient to be nominated. Each Chapter will select ONE student to apply for the award. Recommended committee participants are:

  1. Faculty advisor to the Student Chapter
  2. Sponsoring society liaison
  3. Student Chapter President (if not a candidate)
  4. Department chair
  5. one or more graduate teaching assistants

Student Application Requirements

Student applicant must plan to be enrolled in Spring 2014. Accompanying the Student Chapter application will be a one-page description, written by the student applicant, consisting of the following:

The number of awards given annually will vary depending on the amount of funds available in the AAPG Foundation budget.

Award Notification & Payment Regulations

The selection committee consists of members of the AAPG Foundation Trustee Associates, as appointed by the AAPG Foundation.

Chapter and student recipients will be announced by February of each year.

The grants to successful students and chapters are issued in U.S. dollars and the grant is paid separately between the chapter and the student, usually by a check drawn on a U.S. bank. However, in some countries delivery of grants can only be assured by bank wire transfer or other methods. Students selected to receive grants will be contacted by the AAPG Foundation concerning delivery of their grants.

They must confirm that they can safely accept mail delivery of the grant payable by U.S. check, or they must provide all the banking information necessary for wire transfer of the grant, including the appropriate bank account number in the name of the student recipient or AAPG Student Chapter. A grant cannot be sent to a third party or wire transferred to a third party’s account. Students who are unable to accept grants by one of these methods will be ineligible and should not apply. Funds are limited based on annual budget.

If incorrect information has been provided for the grant during submission, i.e. check, wire transfer, or postal mailing address, a deadline date for the appeal on correction is May 1, 2013.

To donate to the L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate grant fund, select it from the donation page drop-down menu.