Find travel-related grant and award opportunities offered by GSA's On To the Future program, Sections, alphabetically by Division, and GSA International.
Application deadline: 6 May 2025
The On To the Future (OTF) program is GSA's premier effort to engage geoscience scholars to join GSA; support attendance at GSA Connects with travel funding, meeting registration, and GSA membership; provide professional mentorship; network, find community, and build social capital within the geosciences discipline;
Applications open soon.
Application deadline: 27 Aug. 2025
GSA Sections offer travel grants to help students attend GSA Connects. Check the eligibility requirements for your Section. The application form is available from this page only during the early registration period.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
You must be registered for the meeting before you can apply. If you are not chosen to receive a grant and cannot attend the meeting, GSA will refund your registration fee.
Travel grant awards will be distributed to the recipient following GSA Connects.
Check for other grants from your Section.
Are you interested in proposing a topical session or a Pardee Symposium at the GSA annual meeting? The Division can award funds, on a competitive basis, to help sponsor and develop your session. Funds may be used to support the travel costs for invited speakers, or to develop novel materials for Pardee Symposia.
Are you interested in running a field trip or short course about continental drilling tied to the Annual Meeting? The Division can award funds on a competitive basis to offset participants' costs of field trips and short courses. Inquire for information regarding the amounts awarded.
To apply, email the Chair of the Division Program Committee Lisa Park Boush, lisa.park_boush@uconn.edu.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Award: Certificate of Recognition
At the yearly annual meeting, the Energy Geology Division recognizes presentations which are of exceptional scientific quality and are visually appealing. At least one paper is chosen from all the symposium, theme session, general session and poster session presentations sponsored by the Energy Geology Division. The Energy Geology Division board members and selected division members will review student poster presentations at GSA Connects to identify potential awardees.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Monetary awards are offered for a combination of poster content and oral presentation (judges visit your poster and ask lots of questions!). This opportunity is not only a great learning experience, but also is a great addition to everyone’s resume.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Award: $100
Monetary awards are offered for a combination of poster content and oral presentation (judges visit your poster and ask lots of questions!). This opportunity is not only a great learning experience, but also is a great addition to everyone’s resume.
Application deadline: One month before GSA Connects
Award: Registration for annual meeting and cost for short courses and/or field trips
The Roy J. Shlemon Meeting Awards are given to graduate and undergraduate students to encourage participation in field trips and short courses held at annual and sectional meetings. Participation on field trips is especially encouraged. The only criteria are that you must be a student member of the Environmental and Engineering Geology Division of GSA and making satisfactory progress toward your degree.
Application deadline: 30 August
Award: Up to $650
The Richard Hay Award is a travel grant awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student presenting a paper or poster in geoarchaeology at the annual GSA meeting.
Award: Registration fee for division field trip
As of 2018, the Geoarchaeology Division management board has decided to subsidize the registration fee for the earliest registrants for our division field trip who are Geoarchaeology Division Student Members. As of 2019, we've also resolved to subsidize travel costs to the Annual Meeting for our elected Student Representative.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Award: Field appropriate book or similar award
Four Student Presentation Awards will be made to student presenters that participate in the annual Geological Society of America Meeting (two awards for oral presentations and two awards for poster presentations).
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Award: Plaque Certificate
The award recognizes a publication that has made a significant advance in the field of Geology and Health in the past 5 years. The awardee does not need to be a member of the Division.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Award: $200
Poster Presentation Award ($200) for the best student poster in a Geology and Health Scientific Division sponsored session at the annual national meeting of the Geological Society of America. Posters showing a direct relationship between geology and health will be ranked higher in the judging. The awardee(s) is expected to provide a brief bio and write-up of their research for the Division Newsletter. The awardee should be a member of the Geology & Health Scientific Division. An application is NOT required for this award. All appropriate posters will be considered.
Application deadline: 1 August
Award: Up to $200
The student must be the first author of a paper to be presented at the meeting. The application shall include a statement of how the funds will be used and the title of the paper to be given at the meeting. Only members of the Geology and Health Scientific Division are eligible for this grant.
G&G Division student members presenting at GSA Connects can be considered for a Best Student Presentation award. Winners receive a cash prize. Student G&G Division members presenting G&G-themed research at GSA Connects are eligible.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
This award will be given to the author(s) of one or more studies presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in the "Iris Moreno Totten Research in Geoscience Education Session" chaired by the GED. A committee of judges will select at least one presentation. Undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career faculty and professionals are eligible to receive this award.
Application deadline: 1 August
Award: $250
The Geoscience Education Division (GED) is offering several travel grants up to $250 USD to GED student members who are presenting their work in a geoscience education session at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Grants will be awarded based on merit and financial need.
Application deadline: 9 August
Award: $1000
The History and Philosophy of Geology Division Geology Student Award is a travel grant awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student presenting a paper or poster at the annual GSA meeting. The award is $1000 for a paper to be presented at the national GSA meeting.
This award, established in 2004, is made possible by a bequest from the estate of Mary C. Rabbitt. While both oral and poster presentations are acceptable, oral presentations are preferred. The proposed paper may be: (1) A paper in the history or philosophy of geology; or (2) A literature review of ideas for a technical work or thesis/dissertation; or (3) Some imaginative aspect of the history or philosophy of geology we have not thought of before.
The award is open to all students regardless of discipline, provided the proposed paper is related to the history or philosophy of a geological idea, person, etc. Applications are required to include an accepted abstract of a presentation to be made at the annual meeting. The $1000 award will be presented at the annual GSA meeting.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
The Hydro Division gives awards for the top three undergraduate posters presented during the division’s undergraduate poster session at the annual meeting. Posters presented on hydro-related research completed as an undergraduate are judged on technical merit, content clarity, and presentation performance. Posters must be presented while an undergrad or within twelve months following receipt of an undergraduate degree. Winners are announced at the Division Awards Ceremony on the Tuesday afternoon of the annual meeting.
Application deadline: Judging happens at GSA Connects
Awarded to the best oral or poster presentation at the National GSA Meeting given by a student in karst science. The KD Awards Committee is responsible for judging KD student presentations at each national GSA meeting and will announce the awardee through the KD website.
Application deadline: 15 August
Award: $500
MGPV Travel grants support student travel to the annual GSA meeting. Applications are restricted to active graduate or undergraduate students who are the presenting authors of an accepted abstract at the annual GSA meeting. Applicants must be members of the Geological Society of America and of the Division of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, and Volcanology.
Learn more
Application deadline: 15 August
Award: $500
The Planetary Geology Division (PGD) of the Geological Society of America offers at least 3-4 travel grant(s) to help defray costs for PGD student members who are traveling to the GSA Annual Meeting to present first-authored papers.
Application deadline: 6 August
The Pete Mouginis-Mark Prize in planetary volcanology recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate student presentations in planetary volcanology (talks or posters) at the annual GSA Connects Meeting.
Application deadline: Abstract to the session must be submitted by the meeting abstract deadline
Awards are given to students who present posters during the SGD/SEPM student poster sessions at the annual GSA meeting.
Application deadline: 1 September
Award: Up to $500
The Student Travel Award is competitive; the Soil and Soil Processes Division Awards Committee selects recipients based on (1) the scientific merit of the research topic and (2) clarity of the GSA abstract.
Guidelines:
The applicant must submit an abstract that is in standard GSA format and must have a strong focus on soil- or paleosol-related research. In addition, the application must include a letter of recommendation sent from the student's research/thesis/dissertation advisor. Applicants must submit their abstract to GSA by the deadline and be presenting their paper or poster in one of the Division's primary sessions at the annual meeting.
Complete the application form and send it as an email attachment to Steven Driese (Steven_Driese@baylor.edu) by 1 September 2025. The referee for the applicant also must fill out the recommendation form and submit it as an email attachment to Steven Driese (Steven_Driese@baylor.edu) by 1 September 2025. Application and recommendation forms will be available on the Soils and Soil Processes Division web page (link below).
Application deadline: 1 September
Award: Registration fee associated with the field trip or short course
The purpose of the GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division Field Trip and Short Course Grants is to support student participation in field trips and short courses at the GSA Annual Meeting.
Application deadline passed
GSA International offers travel grants to help support the participation of international scientists and students at GSA Connects 2024 in Anaheim. Travel grant funds are limited; grants will not cover the full cost to attend the meeting but are intended to help offset the combined cost of registration, housing, and travel. Applicants will be notified about their status (successful or not) by mid-April 2025.
Application deadline passed
The Christopher I. and Irene N. Chalokwu Travel Grants are awarded to help support undergraduate or graduate student travel for students in Africa, working on any aspect of African Geology, to attend and present their research at GSA’s annual meeting. Successful applicants must reside in Africa. Travel grant funds are limited; grants will not cover the full cost to attend the meeting but are intended to help offset the combined cost of registration, housing, and travel. Applicants will be notified about their status (successful or not) by mid-April 2025.
Every year, many students apply for travel grants for the meeting but do not receive an award due to limited funds. You can help reduce this number by donating as little as US$10 via your registration application. 100 percent of funds collected go to students!
