Geography & Environmental Science

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be a junior or senior to be enrolled full-time with a Geography major
• Have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA with at least a 3.35 GPA in Geography

Supplemental Questions:

1. What is your (CSH) major?
2. What is your cumulative GPA in your major?

The application deadline for the Harold A. Classen Scholarship is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship varies.

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be enrolled full-time at UW-La Crosse with a major in Geography
• Be enrolled as a junior or senior and have at least one semester remaining at UWL
• Have completed, in good standing, two courses in the "mapping sciences" both of which at the 200 level and above
  • Examples may include but are not limited to cartography, GIS, remote sensing, web mapping, and field mapping
• Be in good academic standing with a GPA of at least 3.00
• Financial need may be considered

Supplemental Question:

1. Which courses in the "mapping sciences" have you taken at UWL?

The application deadline for the Dr. Gregory and Sabrina Chu Geography Scholarship is is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $1,000.

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be enrolled full-time at UW-La Crosse with a major in Geography: Environmental Science Concentration or Environmental Science: Environmental Geospatial Track
• Have completed, in good standing, two GEO courses one of which is at the 300 level or above
• Recipient must be in good academic standing with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and at least a 3.0 GPA in their Geography

The application deadline for the Dr. Gregory and Sabrina Chu Environmental Science Scholarship is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $1,000

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be a sophomore, junior, or senior to be enrolled full-time with a major in Geography
• Have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and at least a 3.25 GPA in Geography/Environmental Science

Supplemental Questions:

1. Please provide information about your Geography major as follows:
   1. Are you a Geography and Environmental Science major?
   2. Do you have a GPA of 3.25 in your major?
   3. Have you earned at least 12 credits in Geography?

The application deadline for the Jerry Culver Scholarship Endowment Fund in Geography is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $750.

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be enrolled full-time at UW-La Crosse with a major in Geography
• Be in good academic standing with an above-average grade point average
• Be a sophomore, junior, or senior
• Financial need should be considered

The application deadline for the George N. Huppert Memorial Scholarship in Geography is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $500.

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Declare Geography as a major at the time of admission
• Have a minimum ACT score of 25 out of 36 (or its SAT equivalent)
• Be a sophomore to be enrolled full-time with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and at least a 3.5 GPA in Geography and Environmental Science
• Submit a 200-250 word typed statement explaining why the applicant has chosen Geography as a major
• Show service work and involvement in organization

Supplemental Questions:

1. What is your (CSH) major?
2. Submit a 200-250 word typed statement explaining why you have chosen Geography as a major.

The application deadline for the Margaret Chew Scholarships for Geography Majors is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $500. 

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be a full-time student with a major in Geography
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 with a 3.5 GPA in Geography
• Have earned at least 12 credits in Geography with a total number of credits between 45 and 90
• Financial need may be considered

Supplemental Questions:

1. Please provide information about your Geography major as follows:
   1. Are you a Geography/Environmental Science major?
   2. Do you have a GPA of 3.25 in your major?
   3. Have you earned at least 12 credits in Geography?

The application deadline for the Wayne Jacobson Scholarship Fund in Geography is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $500. 

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be a sophomore, junior, or senior to be enrolled full-time with a major in Geography
• Have at least a 3.0 GPA

Supplemental Questions:

1. What is your major?

The application deadline for the Kirk Louis McIlraith Scholarship in Geography is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $325.

Follow this link to view the application deadline and apply for the scholarship.

Historical Winners:

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be enrolled full-time at UW-La Crosse
• Be pursuing one of the following degrees from the College:
  • Environmental Science and / or a minor in Sustainability and Environmental Studies
  • Biology, Geography, Chemistry, or Microbiology with an Environmental Science concentration
• Must be a junior or senior
• Financial need must be a major consideration

The application deadline for the Dennis Seeger Scholarship in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $2,500

To be eligible for this award students must:

• Be enrolled full-time at UW-La Crosse with a major in Geography: Environmental Science Concentration or Environmental Science: Environmental Geospatial Track
• Have completed, in good standing, two GEO courses one of which is at the 300 level or above
• Recipient must be in good academic standing with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and at least a 3.0 GPA in their Geography

The application deadline for the Dr. Gregory and Sabrina Chu Environmental Science Scholarship is during the first week of February, and the amount of the scholarship is $1,000

This scholarship is offered through the American Geosciences Institute.

The Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship is available for female students pursuing a Master's or Doctoral degree at an accredited institution of higher education in a recognized geoscience program. The scholarship is a merit-based award, which is $5,000 per year. Successful applicants who become Wallace Scholars are eligible to apply a second time for an additional $5,000 as long as they continue to be full-time graduate students in their geoscience degree programs. The second application will be considered competitively among all applicants for that year. 

Current Status:  The application process for 2024-2025 closes on April 13, 2025. To read about applying for the Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship, please visit our applications page. 

The David S. Miller Young Scientist Scholarship is funded by the American Geophysical Union. The goal is to motivate students to make the world a better place. Therefore, the AGU awards $1,500 to students in an environmental studies-related program.

To apply for this scholarship, students must:

1. Be an undergrad or grad student.
   1. Undergrads must have completed at least four full semesters of study.
2. Have at least a 3.4 GPA and show financial need.
3. Show a recorded interest in a geo-environmental engineering or the geo-environmental sciences career.

For more information on the David S. Miller Young Scientist Scholarship, please visit their website.

The Father James B. Macelwane Annual Award was established by the American Meteorological Society to honor the late Rev. James B. Macelwane, S.J., a world-renowned authority of seismology, who was a geophysicist and Dean of the Institute of Technology, Saint Louis University, until his death in 1956.  The recipient of the Father James B. Macelwane award will receive a stipend of $1000 supported by member donations to the AMS Giving Program.

The purpose of this award is to stimulate interest in meteorology among college students through the submission of original student papers concerned with some phase of the atmospheric sciences.  The student must be enrolled as an undergraduate at the time the paper is written, and no more than two students from any one institution may enter papers in any one contest.

The Society encourages applications from women, minorities, and students with disabilities, traditionally underrepresented in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.

For more information on this scholarship opportunity, please visit their website.

This prestigious award is given out by the American Association for Geodetic Surveying (AAGS). If you are interested in geomatics, surveying engineering or geodetic surveying as a future career, then the Joseph F. Dracup Scholarship Award is a great way to help fund your education. In addition to a letter of recommendation and transcripts, students must also submit an essay about why they deserve this $2,000 scholarship in order to apply.

The Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) honors graduate students pursuing their master’s degree in cartography or geographic information science by giving out two $750 CaGIS Masters Scholarship Awards each year. Undergraduates can also apply if they intend to complete master’s level research in geographic information sciences. The criteria for judging applications include academic records, the applicant’s statement, and letters of recommendation and professional activities.

Application deadline: February 15

Geography can lead to exciting career options like surveying and mapping, geodesy or geographic information sciences. Students who are interested in one of these fields should apply for the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Fellows Scholarship. This $2,000 award is available to undergraduate students in their junior or senior year of school. Students must be a member of NSPS to apply.

Application deadline: March 15

This scholarship is offered through the Wisconsin Dells Educational Foundation.

Established in memory of Frank Weigel, a former Wisconsin Dells teacher who taught agriculture and physics for the Wisconsin Dells School District 41 years of his 45-year teaching career, the scholarship is given to students who intend to pursue their college education in either vocational agriculture, agri-business, teaching vocational agriculture, or in other related areas such as earth science, forestry, veterinary medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, or botany.

To apply for this scholarship, students must:

1. Financial need is required
2. Must be pursuing a degree from a 2-year or 4-year accredited college
3. Provide a transcript
4. Provide a resume/activity list
5. Write a Financial Need Statement (no more than 500 words); Write your Career Plan (no more than 500 words)
6. Two Letters of Recommendation, one from school (i.e., teacher, coach, club advisor), and one from the community (i.e, employer, pastor, youth leader, neighbor, etc).

The amount of the award is $1,200 and the deadline for applications is March 2021. For more information, please visit their website.

This scholarship is offered through the Association of American Geographers (AAG). 

The Darrel Hess Community College Geography Scholarship is a $1,500 fund given to students who are pursuing geography as a major. The scholarship was established by Darrel Hess, author of McKnight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation to support any educational expenses in pursuing post-secondary education.

To apply for this scholarship, applicants must:

1. Be an undergraduate student
2. Financial need is required
3. Be currently enrolled at a US community college, junior college, city college, or a similar two-year educational institution at the time you submit your application. The applicant may also be planning to transfer to a four-year institution.
4. Selection will be based o the overall quality of the application, scholastic excellence, and academic promise. 
5. Provide a transcript
6. Present a personal statement outlining your academic and personal background, educational goals, and interest in pursuing geography as a major at a baccalaureate institution.
7. Applicants should arrange for the submission of two Letters of Recommendation from college instructors sent as an email attached from the instructor's own email address to grantsawards@aag.org and mailed to the address listed below.

AAG Hess Scholarship, American Association of Geographers, 1710 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009.

For more information, please visit their website.