Worcester State University Geography Scholarship
(Eight $1,000 Awards) The Worcester State University Geography Scholarship will be awarded to first-year or sophomore students, including transfer students, who are Worcester public high school graduates and are enrolled in WSU’s Geography or Natural Science program. Preference will be given to Hispanic or African-American, Native Americans (American Indians and Alaskan Natives), Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesians or Micronesians), and persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. A short essay is required explaining the applicant’s interest in geography and should accompany the scholarship application.
If the applicant is claiming the preference, as listed in the above paragraph, they should state this in the first paragraph of the essay, listing the specific population category/tribe and/or disability.
The Worcester State University Geography Scholarship for underrepresented WSU students is funded by a National Science Foundation grant (NSF) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) Program. The OEDG Program is designed to address the fact that certain groups are underrepresented in the geosciences relative to their proportions in the general U.S. population. The primary goal of the OEDG Program is to increase workforce participation in the geosciences by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans (American Indians and Alaskan Natives), Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesians or Micronesians), and persons with disabilities, as define by the American Disabilities Act (ADA). A secondary goal of the program is to increase the perceived relevance of careers in the geosciences among broad and diverse segments of the population.
WSU’s Geography program offers a diversity of courses that examine the occurrence, distributions and interactions of natural and cultural features on the earth. These courses can be divided into the following four broad areas:Physical geography explores how the earth works including the interactions of the four spheres; lithosphere (solid earth) atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere.
Cultural geography examines the interactions of human societies and the environment they occupy.
Energy studies courses examine global energy resources and future scenarios for replacing fossil fuels with sustainable energy resources and more efficient use of energy.
Geotechnology classes teach the use and application of technical tools for spatial analysis, one of the fundamental analyses that all branches of geography examine.
Department members conduct research in areas such as global climate change, sustainability as well as other local and global environmental issues.