Scholarship Information

HISTORY
The Geoffrey Schneider Travel Scholarship was established in honor of an ACI member who passed away after a battle with kidney cancer in July 2006. Schneider was the Southern Region Conservation Education Supervisor for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. He was widely recognized for his outstanding contributions to inform and educate people about Nevada's wildlife and natural resources.

Schneider understood the value of face-to-face discussions about common problems and new opportunities. He knew that people in the conservation communication field could become more effective by interacting with their colleagues. For those reasons, he, as much as anyone, believed in ACI's annual conference.

ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP
The goal of the scholarship fund is to enable as many individuals in that specific year to attend the ACI conference.
  • There are up to 10 travel scholarships available for the 2024 conference at Hyatt Centric Arlington, Virginia, July 22-25, 2024
  • The scholarship covers the registration fee and four nights lodging.
  • Scholarships are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to first-time ACI attendees.
  • Limit one scholarship per member agency/organization.
  • Successful applicants are required to take notes for at least one conference session and/or complete a short write up of a successful program that has been implemented in your agency. The conference notes and/or agency program write up will be used in the coming year as part of ACI’s Balance Wheel newsletter. Failure to complete this compulsory article will result in your being ineligible for future scholarships!

The application period runs March 18 – April 17 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Applications submitted before or after those dates will not be considered.
Applicants will be notified of their results by e-mail by April 30, 2024.

If you have questions regarding the travel scholarship contact Joanne Martonik, 703-778-5153 or email jmartonik@rbff.org.

TRANSFERRING SCHOLARSHIPS INFO
If the scholarship recipient can no longer attend the conference, the guidelines below will be followed:
  1. The scholarship may not be passed to another person in that state agency/organization. Scholarships are meant for the intended applicant only.
  2. The scholarship may not be held over for the next year’s conference. The recipient must re-apply.
  3. If unforeseen circumstances arise (canceled flights, death in the family, covid, etc.) that keep a scholarship recipient from getting to the conference, the scholarship committee may look into that circumstance and allow that scholarship to be carried over to the next conference year without reapplication.


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* 1. Name:

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* 2. Contact Info:

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* 3. Are you an employee of an ACI member agency/organization or a potential member agency/organization?

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* 4. Have you ever attended an ACI conference before?

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* 5. The 2024 conference officially begins with a welcome reception on July 22 as well as a scholarship meeting. At the meeting, you will learn what is expected of you regarding taking notes and writing a short article for the ACI newsletter, The Balance Wheel. All scholarship recipients are expected to attend this meeting. Do you agree to this requirement?

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* 6. Hotel reservations for scholarship recipients will be made by the host state.

ACKNOWLEDGE: If I am awarded a travel scholarship, I understand that the host state will reserve a room for me at the conference hotel – Hyatt Centric Arlington in Arlington, VA for 4 nights from July 22-26, 2024

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* 7. Scholarship recipients are required to take notes for at least one session of the 2024 conference AND/OR complete one article for The Balance Wheel. Do you agree with this stipulation?

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* 8. Please explain why you are applying for a Geoffrey Schneider Travel Scholarship.

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