Grant Encourages Pursuit of Environmental Degrees
Summer 2011 · Comment ·
Budding scientists at UT Arlington will soon have a new, powerful incentive to continue their studies. The University recently received a five-year National Science Foundation grant to encourage undergraduate students to pursue a postgraduate degree in environmental science or geology. The grant will provide 22 scholarships to academically talented but economically disadvantaged undergraduates seeking a master’s degree in either field. The scholarships will help cover tuition and fees for the senior year of study and for two years of graduate school. “Our goal is to encourage more students to pursue graduate study and a career in the geoenvironmental sciences,” says Andrew Hunt, assistant professor in earth and environmental sciences and principal investigator for the grant. “We expect some of these students will then go on to earn a Ph.D. in our earth and environmental science doctoral program.” Graduate School Dean Phil Cohen notes that the scholarships will be both need– and merit-based. “Many of these students will be the first members of their families to attend college,” says Dr. Cohen, a co-principal investigator. “We’ll use the grant to prepare them in their undergraduate years and provide them with the resources to succeed in graduate school.” UT Arlington expects to draw participants from its undergraduate ranks as well as from UT Brownsville and UT Pan American. The College of Science’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Department and the Office of Graduate Studies jointly proposed the project and will manage the grant together.
