AAPG Grants-in-Aid Committee

2001 Annual Report

The purpose of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program is to foster research in the geosciences by providing support to graduate students in the earth sciences whose research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-minerals resources, and to related environmental geology issues.

AWARDS SUMMARY

The AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program received three hundred and five (305) applications for review this year. This is a decrease of 124 or 29% from the previous year (Table 1). One hundred (100) monetary awards were made this year totaling $172,000. The total number of awards and funding remained essentially the same as the previous year, compare to 108 and $172,250, respectively. Twenty-five percent (33%) of the applicants received awards this year, compared to 25% from the previous year. The average grant of was $1,720 compared to an average grant of $1,595 in the previous year. All Restricted Grants were awarded this year from the top scoring, eligible applicants.

One hundred and sixty-four (164) doctoral candidates applied for awards compared to one hundred and forty-one (141) master's candidates or those seeking the non-U.S. schools’ equivalent degree. Forty-nine percent (49%) of the doctoral candidates received awards, as did fifty-one (51%) of the master's candidates.

Two-thirds of the applications received were from non-U.S. citizens (66%) compared a third (34%) from U.S. citizens. The funding based on competitive ranking, resulted in a nearly even distributed between U.S. citizens (53%) and non-U.S. citizens (47%) (Table 2). Further analysis reveals that 42% of all the applicants are enrolled in U. S. schools, as are 63% of those receiving awards (Table 3).

For the 2001 Program year, a letter announcing the GIA program and one (1) sample application were sent to over 1300 schools around the world. The letter referred applicants to a downloadable version of the Grants-in-Aid application form via the AAPG web site. The availability within Geoscience departments of only one sample application may account for part of the 29% decease in applications received this year. An additional complication was the transition to a new AAPG Grants-in-Aid administrator and disruption in the communication with Universities.

The list of the year 2001 award recipients was made available on the AAPG web site after their announcement at the Annual Convention in Denver. Abstracts of theses and dissertations from students who received financial grants in 2000 were published in the
November issue of the AAPG Bulletin. Seventy-three (73) of the one hundred eight (108) award recipients published abstracts. Publication of the abstracts increases the visibility of the Grants-in-Aid Program, provides prestige and publicity to award recipients, and informs the membership of student research being supported by the Foundation Program. Abstracts for this year’s award recipients will be published in the November 2001 issue of the Bulletin.

FUNDING

Of the total $172,000 amount awarded, $112,250 was provided by the Foundation Grants-in-Aid Fund and $59,750 was from AAPG Foundation "Named Funds" honoring institutions and distinguished AAPG members. Six (6) new named permanently funded grants were established within the AAPG Foundation and made available for the 2001 award year:

Through the generosity of Robert and Ramona Sneider two $1,000 Archie International Grants, were funded again in 2001. The funds from the Foundation and the Named Grants allow the Grants-in-Aid Program to continue rewarding excellence in petroleum, energy minerals, and environmental research. The Committee encourages all AAPG members to support the Foundation Grants-in-Aid program and to consider endowing a Named Grant during their lifetime so they can experience the benefits of their charitable donations.

COMMITTEE

For the 2001 program year, the Committee comprised 50 members with geographic representation from the Australia (2), Austria (1), Brazil (1), Canada (3), England (4), India (1), Netherlands (1), Poland (1), Russia (1), Saudia Arabia (1), Singapore (1), Turkey (1) and U.S. (32, of which 6 have strong affiliation with International Regions). The Grants-in-Aid Committee aggressively recruits international members. This is greatly facilitated by the International Region Presidents and Service Team Leaders.

Many people deserve recognition for their role in making the Grants-in-Aid Program a success in 2001: the AAPG Foundation and individual donors for their generous financial contributions; Committee members, for thoughtful review of applications and their suggestions for improving the program; and the AAPG Headquarters staff who are responsible for administration of the Grants-in-Aid Program. Thank you to all for your contributions, your dedication continues to uphold the excellence of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program.

Committee Members: Kathy Aulstead, Robin Ausbrooks, Steven Bachtel, Ralph Baird, Jennifer Beall, Winston Bell-Gam, Andrei Belopolsky, Hedi Ben Tahar, Mark Bitter, Alton Brown, Melissa Anne Coleman, Andrew Cullen, Sami Derman, Stephen Edwards, Curtis Evert, Lee Fairchild, Evan Franseen, Francois Gauthier, Jan Golonka, Michael Grammar, Anthony Grindrod, George Grover, Walter Gruen, Nicholas Harris, William Harrison, Denise Hodder, Brian Keith, Gopal Lahiri, Henry Legare, Rhonda Lindsey, Richard Lorentz, Pete Mackenzie, Kevin Meyer, Andrea Moscariello, Eric Potter, Matthew Pranter, Maximiono da Silva Scuta, Robert Spoelhof, Krystyna Swirydczuk, Vladimir Vyssotski, Maureen Wan, Elizabeth Witton-Barnes, and Laura Zahm.