A big change has been announced for an AAPG Foundation program that for nearly 30 years has made a big impact on geoscience education.
Shifting educational priorities and an intent to generate relevant support for geoscience students have led to creation of the new AAPG Foundation Field Camp Scholarship program, which will be used specifically to fund field camp participation.
The initiative will replace the Foundation’s L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant program, which was created in 1997 after Foundation Trustees received a $1 million gift from Weeks.
The original LAW grants were $500 scholarships to students and student-led organizations around the world.
The new LAW Field Camp Scholarships, however, will provide $3,000 to students attending a U.S. university who will be attending a summer field camp.
The new program will open Nov. 30 and accept applications through Feb. 28. The committee will be led by Trustee Associate Kim Parsons, of Lakewood, Colo., who has served as chair of the previous LAW program.
Foundation chair Jim McGhay said the new LAW focus came after months of discussions and work toward finding new ways to effectively help geoscience students with their careers.
“We believe that in changing the LAW emphasis to a field program focus will have a dramatic impact on students,” McGhay said. “Field camps are valuable experiences for students, especially in today’s competitive profession, helping them to become better geoscientists.”
That experience “is good for them, and good for the industry,” he said, “and that’s important for the future for us all.
“We (the Foundation) want to have an impact on that future,” McGhay added, “and I think it’s a tremendous step forward for us.”
The Legacy Continues
L. Austin Weeks was 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.
The senior Weeks was a successful geologist who was credited with developing Australia’s Bass Strait. His son continued father’s legacy both as a professional oil finder and as a philanthropist, much to the benefit of the AAPG Foundation and geosciences in general.
When he made his 1997 donation to the AAPG Foundation, it was offered “to do whatever is in the best interest of the Foundation,” along with a desire to “support undergraduates.”
The shift to funding field camp participation is “focused on undergraduates,” Foundation Executive Director David Curtiss observed, “thus the Trustees are preserving (Weeks’) intent, but changing the use of the funds.
“At some point they may decide to shift again to a different use of the fund,” he added, “(but) as long as they’re using the funds to support undergraduates, ’they’re still conforming to Mr. Weeks’ intent.”
The change in the LAW program has been hinted at on the AAPG Foundation website for the past several weeks with the message “big changes are coming …”
It continued, “Spoiler Alert: If you are a student attending a U.S. university and plan to attend field camp in the summer, you will want to stay tuned.”
Specific guidelines for the grants will be announced when the program opens Nov. 30. The process is expected to be merit-based.