Alumni
Support the SGS
Thank you for supporting the USF School of Geosciences; your generosity makes great things possible! You may make your contribution via the links below.
The School of Geosciences Operating Fund
To further the goals and objectives of the Geology Department.
Support the Geology Alumni Society activities and priorities.
USF Field School Program
Though the USF Geology Field Station Building and Operating Fund (Fund 420144) is the newest and highest-priority of the funds supporting the USF Geology Field School today, it takes it's place alongside two funds previously-established for the field program:
The Sam Upchurch Fund (Fund 420079) was initiated in the 2000s and officially named for the former USF Geology professor and chair in 2010. This fund was designated as a portal through which alums and supporters could donate to defray student field school costs for the upcoming field season. Benefits to students varied on an annual basis, dependent on factors such as field school cost, tuition/fees, student attendance, and funds raised by the donor base.
Recognizing the need for a more stable, long-term means of sustainability, GAS initiated the Field School Endowment (Fund 426063) in 2012. Similar in nature to the Richard A. Davis Endowment for graduate scholarships, the Field School Endowment is an invested fund designed to grow in time with alumni donations and accrued interest. Following it's initial growth period, this Endowment will pay out its accrued interest annually to the Field School Program, defraying costs in the same manner as the Sam Upchurch Fund, with more financial consistency from one year to the next, particularly as field school costs flatten with the establishment of a permanent field station.
You can access all three funds at the USF Foundation site.
Scholarships for full or part-time students, at all academic levels, pursuing a Geology major, in the College of Arts & Sciences, on the Tampa campus.
Environmental Science and Policy Scholarship
To provide support for Environmental Science and Policy undergraduate and graduate students, who are full or part-time, in the College of Arts & Sciences, on the Tampa campus.
Sam B. Upchurch Field School Scholarship
To provide scholarships to help offset the costs associated with the Geology Department
field activities for undergraduate students enrolled in the capstone field courses.
Scholarship criteria: currently enrolled undergraduates, who are full or part-time
students, on all USF campuses, in the College of Arts & Sciences, majoring in Geology
and taking GLY capstone field courses.
Alana Leigh Thompson Memorial Scholarship
To offer an annual scholarship to a full or part-time undergraduate student, at the junior or senior level, all majors, College of Arts & Sciences, on the Tampa campus. This scholarship is for a student who is in good academic standing and must be a US citizen. Preference will be given to students in the Yellowstone National Park Volunteer Program.
The recipient of the Alana Leigh Thompson Memorial Scholarship will spend 12 weeks
in the summer interning with Yellowstone’s Resource Management Department, working
on an array of field activities including controlling exotic vegetation, removing
hazard trees, overseeing human-wildlife interaction, controlling pests, monitoring
air and water quality,
etc. The scholarship was established by Nancy Thompson to commemorate her daughter’s
passions. It is meant to defray the cost of travel, clothes, etc. during the internship.
Will Mashburn, the ’07 recipient, said that the experience facilitates the transition
from "flat-lander to grizzled mountain-person.” He advised others to take advantage
of this life-changing opportunity. “Truly, the diversity of your experience as an
intern with the Park Service depends heavily on your enthusiasm for trying new things
on awhim, your initiative, and your flexibility. This is a great opportunity to feed
your adventurous appetite and to narrow your career focus by stepping into what might
be something you come to love.”