Scholarships and Awards

Each year during the spring semester, student scholarship and award applications are solicited. All recipients are announced at the Honors Convocation in April.

The Barbara Putnam Award

To receive this award the student of any major must have attained rising junior or rising senior standing. The student must have demonstrated a career interest in the environmental resources area. The Barbara Putnam Award is based on merit and need. The recipient does receive a monetary award.

To Apply:

Submit a brief essay in which you indicate your present aims in life, especially in relation to your environmental interests, your present activities related to them, and how you see your Albion College education relating to those aims. Attach to your essay a current Albion College student transcript. Turn your essay and transcript in to the Biology Department Office.

Steven D. Reed Award for Excellence in Student Laboratory Teaching

The Biology Department Faculty and Staff choose the recipients of the Steven D. Reed Scholarship. Only students who have previously or are currently working as Biology Department Assistants are eligible to receive this honor. No application is made for this scholarship.

The Marilyn Young Vitek Merit Scholarship in Biology

To be awarded this scholarship you must be a Biology Major, and have an overall GPA of at least 3.5. A sophomore must have completed three units of biology; juniors must have completed five units of biology. Turn transcript in to the Biology Department Office. The recipient receives a monetary award.

The Ewell A. and Barbara J. Stowell Scholarship in Environmental Biology

To be awarded this scholarship you must be a Biology Major with a GPA of at least 3.0. The criteria listed below must also be met. The recipient receives a monetary award.

1. Successful completion of at least one year of work at Albion College
2. Demonstrated interest in environmental aspects of biology
3. Well-defined goals and apparent motivation toward those goals
4. Demonstrated teaching and leadership potential
5. Recommendations from two instructors, one a biology faculty member and one not
6. A 2-3 page essay will be used to assess goals and an interest in environmental biology. Attach to your paper a current Albion College student transcript.

Turn essay, transcript and letters of recommendation in to the Biology Department Office.

The A. Merton Chickering Prize in Biology

A. Merton Chickering taught at Albion College for 44 years, chaired and shaped the Biology Department for 39 years, and was an arachnologist of international reputation. The prize will be awarded for student research in biology. The criteria are listed below:

1. The biology research project must have either been carried out at Albion College or, if off campus, under the active direction of an Albion College Biology staff member.
2. The student must have either junior or senior standing at the time the research is done.
3. The student must submit an abstract and a two to three page written summary of the research project. The abstract must be written in 12 point font, single spaced, and fit within a space 7″ wide (i.e., use 1″ left and right margins) and 3.5″ long. The abstract should include the title of the research project, the name of the student, the name of the faculty advisor, and a succinct description of the goals, methods, and conclusions of the project. The abstract will be included in an abstract volume which will be distributed at The Biology Research Symposium. The written summary should not exceed three pages and should expand on the content of the abstract. Abstracts and research summaries are to be submitted to the Biology Department Office.
4. A 15 minute oral presentation of the work must be presented at The Biology Research Symposium. Presentations are open to the public; all Biology majors will be encouraged to attend.
5. At least six biology faculty members must attend the oral presentation. The written summaries will be evaluated by all biology faculty.
6. A monetary award will accompany the honor of the Prize.

The Lyman S.V. Judson Award for the Outstanding Senior Biology Major

The Biology Department Faculty chooses the recipient of the Lyman S.V. Judson Award. No formal application is made for this award.

Premedical Scholarships for which you might be eligible (see below).

There are also Premedical Scholarships for which you might be eligible. For Premedical Scholarship and application information contact the Coordinator of the Wilson Institute for Medicine.