Department awards

Departmental Awards

  • Fred Holmsley Moore Teaching Award – An endowment set up by Fred H. Moore along with matching donations from Mobil Oil Company to sponsor high caliber lecturers. This fund also funds a student teaching award given at the end of the academic year. Nominations for this award are solicited annually with a due date around Feb 1. Instructions for nomination will be posted about December 1st each year.
  • Teaching Resources Graduate Teaching Award – to recognize commitment to and excellence in undergraduate education. Awarded by the University’s Teaching Resource Center. The Teaching Resource Center will ask for nominations in mid February. The Awards Committee will determine if any of the candidates for the Moore Teaching Award should be submitted for the GRT prize, and further if any should be nominated for the All-University Graduate Teaching Award whereupon additional instructions will be provided to the nominators.

Research Awards (and grants)

Details and specific instructions for applying for each of the research awards can be found on the Graduate Academic Review Committee’s Research web pages.

  • Moore Research Awards – the Moore Research Awards, based on merit, are supported by the Fred Holmsley Moore Endowment and were initiated in the early 1980’s to help sponsor the dissertation and thesis work of environmental sciences graduate students. Our department’s graduate students who have successfully defended research proposals submit proposals to the Graduate Academic Review Committee which reviews and evaluates these proposals. Traditionally, we recognize both Master’s level and Doctoral level efforts by supporting Moore Research Awards at each. Deadline for submission of proposals is on or about April 1 of each year.
  • The Michael Garstang Award – This award is to be used to support graduate student research in interdisciplinary atmospheric sciences. The award must be applied for with a proposal and budget. Applications for this award should follow the guidelines for the Exploratory Research Award. The winner of the Michael Garstang Award will be selected from the pool of Exploratory Award applicants. The award is supported by the M. Garstang Fund; this Fund also supports the undergraduate M. Garstang Atmospheric Science Award.
  • Department Overhead Research Awards – Like the Moore Research Awards, these awards are merit-based prizes for graduate students having already successfully defended a research proposal. The GARC similarly reviews proposals for these awards, the deadline for submission of which is also on or about April 1 of each year.
  • Thomas Jefferson Conservation Award – This endowed, merit-based research award, supports basic research related to the conservation of Earth’s resources (land, air, water, animals, plants, etc.). The award is given to a student who has successfully defended their research proposal. Applicants for this award will be considered from the pool of applicants for the Moore/Overhead Awards and should follow those specific guidelines.
  • Exploratory Research Awards – These research awards, also based on merit, were initiated to aid selected students with preliminary (exploratory) research leading towards the development of a thesis or dissertation proposal. Again, the deadline for submission of proposals for these awards is on or about April 1 of each year.

Scholarship Awards

  • Arthur A. Pegau (graduate) – The heirs of the late Dr. Arthur A. Pegau, who taught in the Department for more than twenty years, set up an endowment fund for an award to assist students in their research towards a graduate degree in Geology. This award recognized the outstanding graduate student having completed a full year in the Department whose area of interest and focus within environmental sciences is geology. The Awards Committee will select the awardee with input from the faculty in geosciences.
  • Graduate Atmosphere Award (graduate) – Sponsored by the department, this award recognizes the outstanding graduate student having completed a full year in the department whose area of interest and focus within environmental sciences is atmospheric sciences. The Awards Committee will select the awardee with input from the faculty in atmospheric sciences.
  • Graduate Ecology Award (graduate) - Sponsored by the Department, this award recognizes the outstanding graduate student having completed a full year in the Department whose area of interest and focus within environmental sciences is ecology. The Awards Committee will select the awardee with input from the faculty in ecology.
  • Graduate Hydrology Award (graduate) - Sponsored by the Department, this award recognizes the outstanding graduate student having completed a full year in the Department whose area of interest and focus within environmental sciences is hydrology. The Awards Committee will select the awardee with input from the faculty in hydrology.
  • Environmental Sciences Student Excellence Award – This is the premier prize award in the Department of Environmental Sciences. This prize was established by Dr. F. Gordon Tice in 1992. The purpose of the Prize is to foster environmental research, and scholarship and to recognize and honor the outstanding undergraduate or graduate student for their contributions to environmental science, their ability to communicate their findings, and their potential to better the understanding of our environment. Students are nominated by members of the faculty and the award will be approved by the entire faculty upon recommendation of the Awards Committee. The deadline for nominations will be on or about April 1 each year. The nomination package details is explained on the Environmental Sciences Student Excellence Award page.
  • Wallace-Poole Prize (undergraduate) – This is the premier undergraduate award given to the outstanding undergraduate major in environmental sciences.  For graduating student who has at least a 3.8 GPA and is judged to be the most outstanding in the class.
  • Wilbur A. Nelson Award (undergraduate) – This award goes to an outstanding undergraduate student focusing on geosciences.  Historically, this has been awarded to the undergraduate student with the highest GPA in geosciences.
  • Mahlon G. Kelly Prize (undergraduate) – This prize is for the undergraduate ecology student who has established the best GPA over four years.
  • Michael Garstang Atmospheric Sciences Award (undergraduate) – This award is for the undergraduate atmospheric sciences student who has established the best overall four-year record at the University.  At the minimum, the student must have taken three upper division courses in the Department with a focus in atmospheric science, and have a GPA of 3.2 within the Department.
  • Hydrology Award (undergraduate) – This award is for the undergraduate hydrology student who has established the best overall four-year record at the University.  At the minimum, the student must have taken three upper division courses in the Department with a focus on hydrology, and have a GPA of 3.2 in the Department.
  • Interdisciplinary Award (undergraduate) – This award is for the undergraduate major who has excelled in interdisciplinary environmental sciences research.
  • Bloomer Award (undergraduate) – For second, third, or fourth year students in the department who have demonstrated financial need, are highly motivated in their studies, and have shown marked academic improvement during their years of study.  First preference given to students pursuing the study of geosciences.
  • Richard Scott Mitchell Award (undergraduate) – For a rising 4th year undergraduate focusing on geosciences.  Candidates for a Mitchell Scholarship must have achieved Intermediate Honors and completed the following course work:  Fundamentals of Geology and two other advanced courses in geosciences, preferably including either mineralogy or petrology.  The scholarship can be used during the student’s 4th year or applied toward tuition in graduate school with a geoscience focus.

Other Fellowships and Awards

  • Joseph K Roberts -From the income of this endowment, an award is given annually entitled the Joseph K. Roberts Award. This award will be in the form of a book containing an appropriate plate and costing about $15. It will be given to a UVa student (undergraduate or graduate) who presents the most meritorious paper on geology research at a state, national or international meeting/conference. Students who present such papers should forward a copy of the abstract to the Chair of the Graduate Academic Review Committee.
  • Trout Unlimited Award – Awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student for significant contributions to research concerning cold-water fisheries or related ecosystems.
  • W. E. Odum Memorial Endowed Fellowship Fund – This fellowship was created in 1994 when Dr. and Mrs. Eugene Odum created an endowment to honor their late son William E. Odum. Bill was a colleague in our Department until his death in 1991. He was an outstanding scientist, educator and friend that also served as Department Chairman. Bill’s dedication to his graduate students led his parents to create this endowment to provide support to Arts & Sciences graduate students doing research on wetland and marsh environments, the research area where Bill himself excelled. Inquiries about this fellowship should be directed to the Financial Aid Committee.
  • Bannon Endowed Fellowship Fund – This graduate fellowship is supported by an endowment made possible by the generosity of Mr. William Bannon and the Bannon Foundation. Created in 1991, this fund supports outstanding graduate student research that concentrates on the Chesapeake Bay or the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Inquiries about this fellowship should be directed to the Financial Aid Committee.
  • Chair’s Award – to recognize a member of the Department, undergraduate, graduate student, staff, or faculty that has performed extraordinary services to the department and demonstrated an interdisciplinary approach to both teaching and research. This is awarded at the Chair’s discretion.