Sometimes it takes years to know if and when an investment is good, but at other times – well, you just know. Quickly.
The AAPG Foundation’s Field Camp Scholarship program, based on initial results, rocketed to a great start this past summer, with both organizers and participants calling it a wonderful success.
How wonderful?
In its recently completed inaugural year, the Foundation reported that scholarships totaling $90,000 helped make it possible for 30 geoscience students – representing 20 states, from Maine to Alaska – to experience a summer geoscience field camp.
Group photo was from Elizabeth Ashby. Her summary indicates that she attended the Indiana University Geologic Field Station in Cardwell, Montana.
And now, Foundation officials are hoping and proactively planning to make the program’s second year even bigger.
So, whether you’re a geoscience student who hopes to experience a summer field camp in 2026 or someone who wants to make it possible for such dreams to come true, here’s some very good news for you:
The application period for scholarships and making donations is about to begin.
Specifically, scholarship applications will be accepted Nov. 1 through Feb. 1. Donations to the Foundation, of course, are always accepted.
The AAPG Foundation Field Camp Scholarship program was created late last year as a replacement for the Foundation’s L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant program, which itself was created in 1997.
While thousands of students benefited from the LAW grants, however, today’s educational needs and costs outgrew the fund’s original guidelines – which, in turn, inspired the Trustees to seek a better tactic to help geoscience students.
Grace Sandidge, attending Middle Tennessee State University, BS Geoscience – Geology concentration.
“We were looking for a way to make a more effective use of our gifts – an approach that would help provide practical, tangible results in our efforts to help students prepare for their careers in energy,” said Foundation Chair Jim McGhay.
The Foundation also wanted to continue the intentions and spirit of L. Austin Weeks, the son of legendary geologist Lewis Weeks, who, along with his wife, the late Marta Weeks-Wulf, were enthusiastic and generous supporters of the AAPG Foundation and geoscience education.
“Field camp is where classroom learning connects to the rocks we study,” McGhay said, “and for many of us it was a formative part of our educational experience.”
McGhay previously noted that field camps are “good for the students, and good for the many industries that rely on mapping and visualization of diverse data … and that’s important for the future of us all.”
“Clearly, the Trustees are pleased to support this next generation of aspiring geoscientists in taking this critical step in their academic journey,” he said.
Experience Today, Expertise Tomorrow
Scholars who receive an AAPG Foundation field camp grant are immediately reminded that “this award recognizes your passion, dedication and potential as a future geoscientist.”
In other words, for all involved, it is an investment in the future.
In addition to the $3,000 financial aid, the students receive:
- A professional-grade backpack and waterproof field notebook
- A complete field work supply kit – including maps and an Estwing rock hammer
- GeoLite Transit compass, manufactured by Brunton Inc.
- Shirts, hat, cards – and all identifying them as an “AAPG Foundation Field Camp Scholar”
Dozens of letters expressing grateful appreciation of the Foundation’s impact via the field camp program already have been shared. An example:
“I would like to thank you all so much for selecting me for this generous field camp award,” wrote Kaiden Sykes, a geology graduate of Youngstown State University and currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati. “It has eased an immense financial burden, and I cannot thank you enough.”
With the scholarship, Sykes was able to study at a field camp in Turkey, “learning more than I ever have about structural geology, sedimentology, petrology and many other spheres of the geologic world.
“Turkey has provided me many examples of folds, faults and altered formations that certainly are not present in northeast Ohio,” he wrote. “The region (here) is beautiful, and the geology is fascinating.
Dallas Brooks – South Dakota School of Mines and Technology geology Field Camp in Dillon, Montana
“Winning this award has allowed me the ability to study some of the most intricate geology in the world, and the ability to do so stress free,” he wrote. “For that, I am extremely grateful.”
Kaiden Sykes, like all of the 2025 recipients, was chosen from a competitive pool of applicants who were reviewed by AAPG members, led by Committee Chair Kim Parsons.
Included in that group was Foundation Trustee (and treasurer) Valary Schulz, along with Trustee Associates Dan Billman, Dave Rensink, Dexter Harmon, Don Lewis, Rebecca Dodge, Trem Smith and Bill Morgan.
They were joined by members Ashton Bruyere, Henry Legarre, Kate LaFluer, Bob Corwin and Victor Ogunmola.
For students who want to apply for a 2026 AAPG Foundation Field Camp scholarship – and for more information on the program – visit foundation.aapg.org.
And for donors who would like to join this investment in the future of geosciences, you can also visit foundation.aapg.org, or contact Heather Hodges, at [email protected].