AAPG Foundation’s Big Year of Bigger Impact

AAPG Foundation chair Jim McGhay said he and the Foundation Trustees had a big goal for 2025 – one that required hard work, creative thinking and tireless commitment to the purpose. 

In short, the Trustees wanted to make an impact. Wait. Make that “a bigger impact.” 

“The Foundation has a proud legacy of supporting the geosciences, especially through our programs, grants and promotion of geoscience education,” McGhay said, “but we felt the time was right to increase our presence.” 

In fact, every time the Foundation Trustees acted to support the geosciences, a question hovered over their heads: Is there a way for us to do more? 

Their conclusion inspired and propelled the year: Yes, the Foundation could and would increase its presence by doing even more – both in terms of numbers and in efficiency – for the profession, for the geosciences, even for the public. 

“We wanted then and now are driven by our desire to do things that have impact,” McGhay said. 

And a quick look at the Foundation’s achievements for the past year leaves no doubt: 2025 was a year of major strides and important impacts. 

Foundation achievements are measurable first in terms of numbers: Over the past year, the Foundation provided nearly $1.9 million for awards, grants and support of programs – the highest funding total in at least five years, and one of its most active years in history. 

There were new initiatives – the creation of the Foundation Field Camp Scholarship program, for example, was wildly successful (see accompanying story) – and continued support of popular existing programs (see below). 

But to be more efficient and effective – and here’s where the creative insights and hard work come in – the Trustees over the past year basically reimagined and retooled its structure. 

As detailed in the November EXPLORER, the Trustees worked with Executive Director Rick Fritz to develop and move to a committee-focus that emphasizes an organized approach to receiving, assessing, analyzing and acting on proposals and potential programs. 

Each committee is headed by a Trustee and is comprised of Members of the Corporation, Trustee Associates and longtime Foundation supporters and friends. 

“We’ve dramatically increased the participation of our Members and TAs, and improved our ability to both do more and be more rigorous in our evaluation of opportunities,” McGhay said. 

“This positions us to have greater reach in the marketplace,” McGhay said, “and be more effective with our donors’ contributions.

“Thanks to this concentrated approach to our mission, we’re already finding ways to identify new areas of support, and also to develop effective ways to get the work done,” he added. 

“It’s all about impact – and there is so much more that we want to do.” 

Sudden Impact 

Dillon Melendez during field experience, in northern New Mexico

How big – and effective – was 2025 for the AAPG Foundation? 

Details will be available later this month when the Foundation’s annual report is completed, but even a quick look tells an impressive story of how donors’ gifts were used. Here’s how the Foundation helped in 2025 (partial list): 

• Grants-in-Aid: $248,125 in total grants awarded to 97 recipients 
• Foundation Field Camp Scholarship program: $87,000 awarded to 29 recipients 
• Military Veterans Scholarship Program: $15,000 awarded to three recipients 
• Teacher of the Year and Inspirational Geoscience Educator awards: $6,000 award each to two recipients 
• YMCA of Greater Houston (on behalf of Camp Cullen): $65,000. (A geoscience summer specialty camp for children ages 9-16 focusing on geology, earth science, ecology and astronomy – including geology tours) 
• Geoscientists Without Borders (partnership with SEG): $60,000 (Geoscientists sharing their knowledge and skills in communities that are facing environmental hardships or natural hazards) 
• Scouting America 2026 Jamboree/ Geology Merit Badge Program: $33,000 (Development of activities and challenges to help Scouts achieve an understanding of Earth’s geology) 
• Friends of Dinosaur Ridge: $80,000 (To assist with two projects: Dinosaur Ridge Paleontology Data Preservation and the creation of the Deep Time Detour Exhibit space at the Martin G. Lockley Discovery Center, which will allow visitors to explore the area’s fossil-rich landscape; set to open May 2026) 
• AGI Earth Science Week: $30,000 (A global movement toward understanding and protecting our planet – linking geoscience to daily lives by providing educational activities, resources and events to students) 
• GSA Connects 2025/Junior Geologist Program: $25,000 (Designed to introduce young minds to geology) 
• University of Oklahoma Research Symposium and Expo: $10,000 
• Switch Energy Alliance: The Switch Competition 2025: $5,000 (An annual international case competition for university students to develop solutions for real-world energy challenges) 
• Geoscience Educational OpportunityResearch Experience (GEO-Rex): $3,000 (Introduces high school students to geology, geophysics and environmental geosciences, with an eye toward pursuing careers) 
• Buffalo Bayou Educators’ Program: $935 (Provides K-12 teachers with a field seminar focused on understanding the flow archives of Hurricane Harvey in Buffalo Bayou, and the impact of flooding events on the geology and the people of the Houston area) 

In other words, thousands and thousands of people were impacted by Foundation funding – all possible because of gifts to the Foundation. 

“We are especially grateful to those who have joined us in our mission to support geoscience and the students, and the general public,” McGhay said. “Science and education are central to our efforts, and I would encourage those, and others, to continue their support. 

“It takes a village, and we need a larger community to accomplish our goals. 

“We wanted to make an impact this year, and I believe we were able to achieve that goal,” McGhay continued. “And even better, we’ve taken the steps for the Foundation to make positive impacts for generations to come.” 

For more information on the work of Foundation – or to be a part of those efforts, through your gifts and/or volunteer service – visit the website at foundation.aapg.org, or contact Heather Hodges at [email protected].