USGIF Awards Highest Amount of Annual Scholarship Funds to Date

Outstanding students receive a total of $126,000 for academic excellence in GEOINT

Herndon, Virginia (August 23, 2018) — The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) recently awarded $126,000 in scholarships to individuals studying geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and related topics. This is the largest annual amount USGIF has distributed to date, thanks to the contributions of USGIF Organizational Members committed to investing in GEOINT education. Since the USGIF Scholarship Program began in 2004, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.2 million to students with aspirations in GEOINT.

USGIF offers scholarships annually to outstanding doctoral candidates, graduate students, undergraduate students, and graduating high school seniors. Accompanying these scholarships are two awards funded entirely by USGIF Organizational Members: The first ever Reinventing Geospatial Inc. (RGi) Scholarship for Geospatial and Engineering, a $10,000 scholarship awarded to an undergraduate student pursuing engineering and geospatial disciplines who demonstrates financial need; and the third Ken Miller Scholarship for Advanced Remote Sensing Applications sponsored by Riverside Research, which awards $10,000 to a graduate student studying remote sensing who plans to enter the defense intelligence workforce.

“Scholarship winners were selected following a highly competitive, multi-tiered review of applications by GEOINT professionals who volunteered their time as part of USGIF’s Scholarship Subcommittee,” said USGIF Director of Academic Programs Dr. Camelia Kantor. “We were impressed with the quality of applications and very pleased to see the next generation of GEOINTers—from the high school to doctoral level—already tackling major world challenges not just by using state-of-the-art technology, but also by applying creativity, logic, attention to detail, innovation, and ethics.”

The 2018 USGIF scholarship winners are:

RGi Scholarship for Geospatial and Engineering:

David Runneals, Northwest Missouri State University

Ken Miller Scholarship for Advanced Remote Sensing Applications:

Joshua Michael Turner, North Carolina State University

Doctorate:

Katherine Cavanaugh, University of California, Los Angeles
Jaclyn Guz, Clark University
Carolynne Hultquist, Pennsylvania State University*
Christopher Olayinka Ilori, Simon Frazier University
Scott Pezanowski, Pennsylvania State University*

Graduate:

Jacob Fuson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cesar Jhonatan Garrido Lecca Rivera, University of Redlands*
Travis Meyer, Pennsylvania State University*
Andrew Ryan, George Mason University*
Sarah Spalding, University of Texas at Austin

Undergraduate:

Jake T. Burstein, University of South Carolina*
Milovan Dakic, Indiana State University
Margaret Hackney, Mercyhurst University
Haley Kathryn King, George Mason University*
Candice Lee, University of Georgia
Pearl Leff, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College & Lander College for Women
Claire Mercer, Ohio State University & Sijal Institute
Rachel Pierstorff, University of Denver

Graduating High School Seniors:

Alexander Chrvala, Towson High School in Towson, Md.; now attending the University of Mary Washington

Srijay Kasturi, South Lakes High School in Reston, Va.; now attending the University of Maryland*

Madyson Larson, Xenia High School in Xenia, Ohio; now attending the University of Cincinnati

Christopher Lee, Dripping Springs High School in Dripping Springs, Texas; now attending the University of Texas at Dallas*

Keelin O’Hara, Albermarle High School in Charlottesville, Va.; now attending the University of Mary Washington

Adam Wallace Potter, Oak Park River Forest High School in River Forest, Ill.; now attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Brandon Staple, Longmont High School in Longmont, Colo.; now attending the University of Colorado Denver

Maxwell Thorpe, David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Mo.; now attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison

*These institutions are accredited by USGIF to award GEOINT Certificates along with their degree programs.

Learn more about the USGIF Scholarship Program at usgif.org/education/scholarships.

About USGIF

USGIF is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community among government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF achieves its mission via its strategic pillars: Build the Community | Advance the Tradecraft | Accelerate Innovation.

For more information, please visit www.USGIF.org.

Contact:

Lindsay Mitchell
Lead Educational Manager
United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation
571-392-7217
Email Contact