Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences - Scholarship Information

---

Departmental tuition support scholarships are available through the Department's Excellence Fund, the Michael Trapasso Meteorology Fund, and the Gildersleeve Fund for Geology Excellence for Academic Year 2020-2021 and thereafter.

      In addition, a scholarship from the Dr. James Leslie Davis Scholarship Fund is also available for 2020-2021 (go to WKU's scholarship site to complete an application for this fund no later than February 1st  each year) and thereafter. For Undergraduate and Graduate Students studying geospatial topics (GIS, Remote Sensing), a merit-based scholarship from the Syed Reza Ahsan Scholarship Fund for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis is available for those students with financial need. Applicants for these scholarships MUST complete the WKU (not the departmental) Scholarship application form (go to WKU's scholarship site to complete an application for this fund).

      For full-time undergraduates or graduate students studying geography (cultural, GIS, planning, environment, sustainability, meteorology), a need-based scholarship from the James and Avo Taylor Scholarship is available that provides funding for the academic year. Applicants for this scholarship MUST complete the WKU (not the departmental) Scholarship application form (go to WKU's scholarship site to complete an application for this fund), and the recipient cannot be receiving any other form of financial aid. Applications are due February 1st of each year for the upcoming academic year.

      For the departmental academic-support scholarships, competitive funding is available for freshman BS Meteorology students, outstanding returning BS Geological Sciences students, and outstanding returning BS Environmental, Sustainability, and Geographic Studies (ESGS) majors. Incoming freshmen students should have high ACT/SAT scores and an outstanding record of achievement in their high school. Returning students should have a 3.2 GPA or higher, have demonstrated financial need, or have a compelling reason to justify funding support.


A departmental Application Form is downloadable here.

The Scholarship Committee will consider GPA, financial need, and other relevant information.

DEADLINE for departmental applications is July 15 for the upcoming academic year, and March 15 annually  for summer programs (Study Abroad, field camp, etc.).
[NOTE: Make sure you refresh your browser if saved in internet favorites as the form is new!]

***NOTE: The WKU deadline for scholarships is FEBRUARY 1 - this deadline includes the Department's DAVIS, TAYLOR, and AHSAN scholarships.

---

Travel scholarships are available for undergraduate majors and Geoscience Graduate students for each academic year:
(1) Students must be attending an approved local, regional, national, or international conference and be sponsored by a department faculty member;
(2) Priority funding support is given to those students who are presenting a paper or poster at a conference, and who are supervised by a faculty member;
(3) Students seeking travel support must request funding from their faculty supervisor using the approved travel request form, who should then forward the request for funding to the Department Head;
(4) Students should submit a budget of their anticipated expenses with their request for funding using the approved form;
(5) Students should share costs wherever possible (hotel, driving, etc.) and should be prepared to contribute their own funds to the professional development activity as departmental budgets are extremely limited;
(6) The department does not pay per diem; it only reimburses reasonable and normal travel expenses. Students should keep all receipts as no reimbursement can be made without an accompanying receipt;
(7) Students should seek funding support from other sources as well, including the Ogden Dean's office, the Honors College, faculty grants, etc.
(8) All claims for reimbursement MUST be made within 30 days of completion of travel. NO reimbursements will be processed after the 30-day deadline;
(9) Requests for non-travel support such as equipment rental, sample processing, etc., should be made directly to the faculty supervisor with a justification for requesting support;
(10) For more information, contact your faculty advisor or the Department.