Student-centric advice and objective recommendations
Higher education has never been more confusing or expensive. Our goal is to help you navigate the very big decisions related to higher ed with objective information and expert advice. Each piece of content on the site is original, based on extensive research, and reviewed by multiple editors, including a subject matter expert. This ensures that all of our content is up-to-date, useful, accurate, and thorough.
Our reviews and recommendations are based on extensive research, testing, and feedback. We may receive commission from links on our website, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our marketing partners don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted. You can find a complete list of our partners here.
Top 32 Environmental Science Scholarships in September 2022
The field of environmental science becomes more and more important to the future of our world with every passing day. With the mounting environmental problems around the world, it’s only natural that organizations would begin to offer more and more environmental science scholarships to encourage a generation of climate scientists to create solutions for our world.
Whether you are majoring in environmental science or an adjacent field such as biology or ecology, you’ll find some great opportunities on this list. Each opportunity has been hand-vetted by our scholarship team and we’ve included scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students. Let’s get into it!
Jump ahead to…
- Top environmental science scholarships
- How to win environmental science scholarships
- Resources for environmental science students
- Frequently asked questions
- Additional scholarship categories to explore
Top 32 Environmental Science Scholarships in September 2022
The Scholarships360 Research Team reviews all scholarships individually and strives to exclude any scholarship where any of the below applies:
- The scholarship requires a fee to apply
- The scholarship provider’s privacy policy allows for the misuse of student data
- The scholarship requires paid membership in an organization (with certain exceptions for reputable trade organizations and others)
- Student are required to sign up for a site or service to apply*
- The scholarship seems primarily used for lead generation** or idea harvesting purposes***
- The scholarship website has many grammatical errors and/or advertisements
- The scholarship or scholarship providing organization seem untrustworthy
- There is no evidence the scholarship was previously awarded
- The scholarship has not been awarded in the past 12 months
- There is no available contact information
If you believe a scholarship has been published in error, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll take a look!
* There are certain exceptions to this, for example if the sponsoring organization is a major corporation or nonprofit with its own scholarship application system.
** Lead generation scholarships will require students to sign up for an app or website and require minimal (if any) application requirements.
***Idea harvesting scholarships will require students to submit blog posts or other materials that companies may use for marketing purposes.
Apprentice Ecologist Initiative
Offered by Nicodemus Wilderness Project
Open to students between ages 13-21 who conduct an environmental stewardship project and write an essay about it.
EngineerGirl Writing Contest
Offered by EngineerGirl
Open to students who write an essay on how the world can reach one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals through engineering.
Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship
Offered by Scholarships360
Open to high school seniors who promote vegetarianism in their schools/communities.
Colorado Garden Foundation Full-Ride Scholarship
Offered by Colorado Garden Foundation
Open to incoming freshmen at Colorado public universities who plan on studying a field related to the environment or agriculture.
Calaveras Big Trees Association Scholarships
Offered by Calaveras Big Trees Association
Open to any postsecondary student studying an environment-related field full-time at a California educational institution.
RTK Scholars Program
Offered by RTK Environmental Group
Open to high school upperclassmen and college freshmen with passion and career interests in environmental science.
Ocean Awareness Art Contest
Offered by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs
Open to middle and high school students who create an unconventional art/think piece addressing climate change.
Young Filmmakers Contest
Offered by One Earth Film Festival
Open to students in grade 3 through age 25 who submit a short video talking about climate and environmental action.
$2,000 Nitro College Scholarship – No Essay
Sponsored
Easy scholarship open to all high school, college, community and graduate students.
Niche $50,000 “No Essay” College Scholarship
Sponsored
Open to high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college or graduate school in the next year.
- 1
- 2
- 3
-
Next
How to win environmental science scholarships
Now that you’ve got some great opportunities to apply to, it’s time to begin thinking about your applications. As each scholarship will likely receive many applicants, you’ll have to put in some effort in order to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do this is to sit down and do some reflection before you even look at the prompts. Try asking yourself the following questions, and write down the first things that come to your mind in response. Don’t worry about formatting or succinct wording – just get all your thoughts out on the page:
- What inspired you to study environmental science?
- What have you accomplished that speaks to your potential in the field of environmental science?
- How do you hope to change the world with your environmental science degree?
- What environmental scientists do you look up to, and why? How do you hope to use the lessons you learned from them to shape your career?
- Have you been personally impacted by environmental changes? How has this impacted your worldview?
Once you’ve finished answering these questions yourself, try asking your friends and family for input. Oftentimes, they will remember achievements that you may have forgotten about yourself. Write all of this down and have it on-hand when you begin your essays.
Tips for writing a scholarship essay
Now that you’ve got some good material to use in your essays, it’s time to begin laying out your information in a compelling and succinct manner. Luckily, we have some guides to help you through the process! Check out our guides on how to start a scholarship essay (with examples!) and how to write an essay about yourself. Here are a few more guides that can help you out as you fill out applications:
- How to write a winning scholarship essay
- How to write a scholarship resume
- Tailoring your writing to a 250 or 500 word limit
Resources for environmental science students
National Association of Environmental Professionals
The NAEP is an interdisciplinary national organization for professionals working with the environment. Its membership includes professionals from a wide variety of fields, all tackling the problems of environmental change. This is a great organization to help you contextualize your environmental work in the larger frame of what’s being done to combat climate change, and can offer some valuable networking opportunities.
Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences
The AESS is a national organization that helps improve environmental education across the country. It encourages collaboration between campuses and shared goals in the curriculums for environmental education. You can check out this organization’s efforts to see how you may expand your studies beyond the frame of your campus.
The Ecological Society of America
Environmental science students focusing on ecology should be sure to check out this organization. They offer a wide variety of resources, including national conferences, research journals, and access to databases of ecological studies. This is a great way to plug into a national network of like-minded professionals. You might be able to use this network to find a job, internship, mentor, or scholarship. You may even find the trajectory of your studies and career focus to shift based on what you learn about in their events!
Frequently asked questions about environmental science
Can environmental science majors apply for biology scholarships?
Many biology scholarships are open to environmental science majors, but this varies by individual opportunity. Your best bet is to check each scholarship individually to see who is eligible to apply.
Are environmental science majors considered STEM?
Environmental science is generally considered a STEM discipline! The National Science Foundation considers it to fall under the STEM category. Though individual definitions of STEM may vary, you’ll find that it usually includes environmental science.
What is the difference between environmental studies and environmental science?
Although these two fields address a similar subject matter, they take slightly different approaches. Environmental studies takes a more holistic approach to environmental change. The field addresses societal causes of environmental phenomena. Oftentimes, it will address how policy and political factors have shaped an environmental situation. Environmental science, on the other hand, takes a more technical approach. The field studies how natural systems work and then how different modifications can affect their dynamics.
So, you can think of the two fields as being very complementary. Environmental science studies how an ecosystem works and how different changes may affect it. Environmental studies addresses what has to go on in society to cause human interference, and how environmental changes affect human lives.
That being said, the two are by no means mutually exclusive. Environmental science students will get some education on how societal factors shape environmental change. And environmental studies students will learn about ecology and biology and the inner workings of natural systems.
