Scholarships & Funding

Scholarship Universe

Most NAU scholarship applications, including SES-specific awards, run through Scholarship Universe, which opens in January. SES awards typically require short essays on your graduate experience, research, and community involvement.

To confirm eligibility, make sure your degree program is listed as your “Major.” Applications ask for:

• basic contact information;
• US citizenship and Arizona residency status;
• degree progress and GPA;
• unofficial transcripts (from Louie);
• FAFSA completion status (used to indicate financial need).

Which awards you’re eligible for as a returning SES grad student is summarized in the SES scholarship eligibility matrix. These awards are not available to students who haven’t yet enrolled or who are graduating.

Application materials

Environmental general application. Address (a) your environmental interests and contributions, (b) career objectives, and (c) eligibility. Maximum 2 pages, PDF, 1.5 spacing, named lastname_firstname_environmental.pdf.

Earth science general application. Two sections: a coursework summary with graduation timeline, and a research description covering your questions, their significance, and progress. Maximum 3 pages, PDF, 1.5 spacing, named lastname_firstname_earthscience.pdf. You may include explanations for transcript discrepancies.

Award-specific descriptions. Some awards ask for additional material demonstrating project alignment.

SES awards with their own processes

Wyss Scholars Program. For MS Environmental Sciences and Policy students in their first year, funded by the Wyss Foundation for conservation leaders headed toward careers with NGOs, tribes, or government agencies. Includes an in-school award, summer stipend, professional development, networking, and post-graduation support. Deadline in January. Program announcement.

Montgomery Award. Honors a research presentation (3-minute format) at the SES Graduate Research Symposium each April, judged on communication and research quality, with preference for water-resources research. One award per recipient. Named for Dr. Errol “Monte” Montgomery, founder of Montgomery & Associates.

Friday Lunch Clubbe Awards. For geology graduate research projects, funded by geology alumni through a proposal evaluation process.

External opportunities

• Office of Graduate and Professional Studies scholarships and travel/research grants
• American Geosciences Institute Scholarship for Advancing Diversity in the Geoscience Profession
• American Indian College Fund
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society scholarships
• Arizona Hydrological Society scholarships and internships
• Central Arizona Project Award for Water Research
• Garden Club of America scholarships
• GEM fellowships (science and engineering graduate programs)
• Geological Society of America scholarships
• Hispanic Access Foundation MANO Project (natural resources and conservation internships)
• National Association of Abandoned Mine Lands Program scholarship
• National Environmental Health Association scholarships
• Quayle Scholarship (Native American tribal members enrolled at NAU)