AAG Visiting Geographical Scientist Program

The Visiting Geographical Scientist Program (VGSP) welcomes applications for the current academic year. Funded by Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU), the International Geographical Honor Society, and managed by the AAG, the VGSP sponsors visits by prominent geographers to colleges and universities across the country. Its purpose is to stimulate interest in geography, especially in small departments that do not have the resources to bring in well-known speakers. Participating institutions select and make arrangements with the visiting geographer.

The Program is Targeted for:

• Students – to acquaint them with subfields that may not be available in course offerings at their institution, stimulate their interest in geographic research, and familiarize them with career opportunities available to geographers.
• Faculty members – to encourage geographers in their own subfields of geography, to enrich their knowledge of other subfields, to provide counsel on research and curriculum problems, and to inform non-geographers about current developments in the discipline.
• Administrative officers – to acquaint them more fully with the nature, content and purpose of geography, assist them in understanding the unique spatial point of view that geography contributes to a liberal education, and provide counsel on the development of staff and curricula.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• To qualify for the program, at least one-half of the institutions hosting a visiting scientist during the academic year must have active chapters of Gamma Theta Upsilon (an active chapter is one that has reported initiates in the past two years).
• Institutions without a GTU chapter may host a visiting scholar only once. Thereafter, they must have a Gamma Theta Upsilon chapter to be eligible.
• Two-year colleges which offer a degree or a certificate program in Geography are eligible to form GTU chapters.
• The VGSP requires one scientist to visit two or more institutions over a one to three-day period. A single contact at the primary sponsoring institution will coordinate the visits. This contact will work with the visiting scientist, the representatives of the other institution(s), and the VGSP Coordinator in the AAG Office.
• Each host institution is responsible for providing the visitor with meals and lodging. GTU will pay an honorarium of $100 per institutional visit to each visiting scientist and will reimburse the visitor up to $600 for travel costs to and from the area of the institutions visited. Visitors will receive their checks from the AAG. Additional travel costs (above the $600 allowance) must be absorbed by the institutions.
• As with all other AAG programs, eligibility also rests on the person being in compliance with the AAG Professional Conduct Policy.