Giving to Geography
Gifts of support for the Department of Geography at UCSB are deeply appreciated. All gifts, large and small, help us in our mission of teaching and research and in promoting the study and understanding of planet Earth and its inhabitants. You may give an unrestricted gift or direct how the money is used. If you'd like to help, please print out the donation form, fill it out, and mail it with your donation check. Thank you for your support!
There are many giving possibilities
GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT SUPPORT
Unrestricted support
General gifts to the department are used wherever the need is greatest. Donations to the department can help buy equipment, provide fellowships or travel support for graduate students, or bring distinguished scholars to campus. Previous contributions have funded
undergraduate student awards:
- The Chair's Award for Excellence in Geography is awarded to the graduating senior who has majored in Geography and has attained the highest overall grade point average.
- The Distinction in Geography Major is awarded to students who have a minimum 3.5 overall GPA and a 3.6 GPA in the major and are members of departmental honors programs who complete a senior honors project or thesis with distinction.
- The Outstanding Achievement in Geography award acknowledges outstanding academic performance in the Department of Geography.
graduate student awards:
The Department of Geography Excellence in Teaching award for students who have a outstanding teaching track record. The Department of Geography Excellence in Research award for students who have a outstanding research track record. general department support:
The purchase of GPS units, globes, atlas books, and other teaching materials for classroom and community outreach.
30th Anniversary Scholarship
graduate student scholarship
A 30th Anniversary Scholarship Endowment designed to build a fund from which interest only can be used to fund an annual scholarship for a graduate student. Ideally, a gift of just $30 from 667 alumni and friends would formally establish this permanent scholarship.
Landon Romano Textbook Scholarship Fund
undergraduate student book scholarships
Landon Romano, a 1999 graduate of the Department of Geography, established the textbook scholarship fund to give back to the department that made a positive difference in his career. The Landon Romano Geography Textbook Scholarship is given out at the beginning of each quarter to undergraduate geography students to assist in the purchase of geography textbooks.
Endowment Gift Opportunity
<Name> Scholarship Fund
undergraduate or graduate student scholarships
Through UCSB's new Geography scholarship program, you can create an undergraduate or graduate scholarship endowment that is awarded immediately!
With a commitment of $30,000 - a $6,000 gift each year for five years - we will award a scholarship in your name (or a name of your choice) beginning in the current academic year.
And at the end of five years, your giving will have created a $25,000 endowed scholarship fund -- a permanent named scholarship that will continue supporting students in perpetuity.
Established Designated Gift Funds
The Akella Family Scholarship
undergraduate majors scholarship
Each year the Akella Family Scholariship will be awarded to talented and deserving undergrad student(s) enrolled in the department. The Scholarship will be used to support undergraduate student(s) based on the criteria of compelling family/personal circumstances and academic achievement. Highest consideration is given to those who have unique and challenging obligations (i.e.; re-entry/non-traditional students, extended family responsibilities, etc).
The Nicholas Bourdakis Memorial Fund
undergraduate majors scholarship
The Bourdakis Fund was established after the tragic death of Nicholas, who died in February 2001 when struck by a car in Isla Vista. He had just declared Geography as his major. This fund helps to keep Nick's memory alive by supporting future generations of outstanding undergraduate students in Geography at UCSB.
Jack and Laura Dangermond Fund
graduate and undergraduate students in GIScience award travel expenses and honoraria for annual speaker
The Jack & Laura Dangermond Graduate Fellowship and the Jack & Laura Dangermond Undergraduate Scholarship are awarded to a promising graduate and undergraduate geography students in geographic information science (GIS) in the department of Geography. In addition, annually an internationally outstanding researcher in geographic information science is invited to campus to speak and share research in a public forum.
Jack and Laura Dangermond are the co-founders and President and Executive Vice President respectively of Environmental Systems Research Institute. ESRI is a major industrial supplier of software in the field of GIS. Jack Dangermond currently serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) at UCSB.
The Jack Estes Memorial Fund
graduate students in remote sensing award
Jack Estes was a Geography faculty member for over thirty years and the Director of the Geography Remote Sensing Unit. His primary research interests involved the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems technology for analysis of earth resources. Among the agencies he conducted studies for were NASA on land-use change, crop identification and advanced soil moisture conditions; the U.S. Forest Service on fire fuels monitoring and modeling; and the Environmental Protection Agency on hazard and pollution detection and modeling and resources management. The fund was established to support students who are continuing his field of research.
Reginald Golledge Distinguished Lectureship in Geography
travel expenses and honoraria for annual speaker
The Golledge Distinguished Lecture was instituted in 1984 when Prof. Reginald Golledge lost his sight. The department set up a Distinguished Lecture Series with the intent that Golledge would be able to invite the distinguished person whose work related to his interest areas, so he could interact with them and catch up on the latest in ongoing research. For a list of Golledge Distinguished Lecturers who have shared their expertise with the department over the years, see http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/events/colloquium/golledge.php.
The Leal Anne Kerry Mertes Scholarship Award
Undergraduate and graduate student award
Leal Mertes was a Geography faculty member who investigated rivers, wetlands and floodplains globally. Her interests spanned the dynamics of river channel, floodplain and wetlands interactions; the remote sensing of wetland environments; and the long term evolution of large river systems. She also devoted a great deal of effort to educational issues, including curriculum design and assessment.
This fund was established to reflect Leal's passion for fieldwork by supporting UCSB students (graduate or undergraduate) who are planning or are engaged in field research. The Leal Mertes Scholarship is awarded to talented and deserving UCSB students enrolled in any UCSB department where fieldwork in natural science is conducted. For the purposes of this scholarship, "fieldwork" is defined as any off-campus activity devoted to studying, observing, sampling, investigating, or measuring natural or human phenomena.
The David Simonett Memorial Fund
graduate student award
The David S. Simonett Memorial Fund has been established in memory of David S. Simonett, Professor of Geography at UCSB from 1975 until his death on December 22, 1990. A world-renowned authority in the field of remote sensing, Simonett was a founding director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA). The UC Board of Regents renamed UCSB's division of the NCGIA in honor of Professor Simonett. David Simonett was the first chairman of the Department of Geography from 1975 to 1982 and Dean of Students until 1989. David Simonett provided the vision and energy to build what has become one of the nation's finest Geography Departments here at UCSB.
Contact
If you would like more information on the above scholarships or are interested in giving a major monetary gift, a gift of stock, or gift of property to the Department of Geography, please contact:
Daniel Oh
Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Science & Engineering
(805) 893-7223
dan.oh@ia.ucsb.edu
To make a donation to the UCSB Department of Geography, please complete the gift donation form located at http://geog.ucsb.edu/about/donate.pdf.
