PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
October 2015
757
PROFESSIONAL
INSIGHT
Why does ASPRS have an Awards and Scholarships
program?
A key ingredient of a successful professional society is to
honor and give recognition to our members and their ac-
complishments as often as we can.
How does this program benefit ASPRS?
The ASPRS Awards recognize professional achievement,
outstanding scientific research in the geospatial sciences
and student achievement through the Scholarship program.
This is a distinct and unique value for ASPRS members
world-wide and maintains the status of ASPRS as the pro-
fessional association of choice for geospatial practitioners.
How is the program funded?
The ASPRS Foundation has established an extensive and
broadly-based program that provides these grants, scholar-
ships, and other forms of aid to individuals or organizations
pursuing knowledge of imaging and geospatial information
science and technology, and their applications across the
scientific, governmental, and commercial sectors.
Every year with your dues notice, members are given an
opportunity to contribute to the Foundation for the ASPRS
awards program. We can contribute to a specific award in
which we have interest or it can be directed to the general
fund. If it is directed to the general fund, the Foundation
will distribute it among all awards by an algorithm that
favors awards that are further from full endowment levels.
Please consider this as an opportunity to grow our Awards
Program when you get your dues notices … or any time.
How long has the Program been offered and how many
awards and scholarships are available?
The American Society for Photogrammetry (ASP) was
started in 1934 has been giving honors from the very be-
ginning. The Claud H. Birdseye Key was awarded to the
first outgoing President and it has been given to every
outgoing President since. The Photogrammetric Fairchild
Award to stimulate the development of the art of aerial
photogrammetry globally was established in 1943 and the
Talbert Abrams Award for best paper focuses on current
ASPRS AWARDS &
SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAM
and historical engineering and scientific developments in
photogrammetry and was instituted in 1945. The 1960’s
to 80’s saw a few new awards added, but the big growth
materialized from the late 90’s through now.
Currently we have the opportunity to give out 29-31
awards and scholarships to our members and other qual-
ifying applicants every year and many of these awards
have multiple winners. We give out over $50,000 annually.
What types of awards and scholarships are available?
Some of the awards and scholarships we offer are listed
below:
Outstanding Paper Awards
– given to exceptional
papers published in
PE&RS
• Boeing Award for Best Paper in Image Analysis and
Interpretation
• John I. Davidson President’s Award for Practical Papers
• ERDAS Award for Best Scientific Paper in Remote
Sensing
• Esri Award for Best Scientific Paper in GIS
• Talbert Abrams –for best paper focused on current
and historical, engineering and scientific develop-
ments in photogrammetry
Scholarships
– for which students may apply:
• Altenhofen – to encourage and commend college stu-
dents who display exceptional interest and ability in
the theoretical aspects of photogrammetry, remote
sensing, and related sciences
• Anson – to encourage students who have an excep-
tional interest in pursuing scientific research or ed-
ucation in geospatial science or technology to enter a
professional field where they can use the knowledge
of this discipline to excel in their profession.
• Behrens – to encourage students who have an excep-
tional interest in pursuing scientific research or ed-
ucation in geospatial science or technology and land
information systems/records.
• Collwell Fellowship – for PhD students interested in
practical uses of remote sensing
• Digital Globe – a unique data grant to support remote
sensing education and stimulate the development of
applications of high-resolution digital satellite remote
sensing data through the granting of Digital Globe
imagery for applied research by undergraduate or
graduate students.
• Fischer – encouraging new and innovative uses of re-
mote sensing data/techniques that relate to the nat-
ural, cultural, or agricultural resources of the Earth.
“Receiving [this] scholarship has enabled me
to pursue a very interesting and rewarding
career. It has enabled me to continue my
research throughout college and be able to
focus on my studies and effectively move from
college into a career.”
