Teen Bird Camp Scholarships 

Attending birding camps allows young birders a fantastic opportunity to advance their birding interest while exploring a new area, learning more about birds, and developing lasting connections with peers. Many birding camps combine speaker series, banding workshops, expert-led birding, and career exploration to give young birders a unique opportunity to improve their birding, learn about avian ecology and identification, and have some summertime fun with other young birders.

Boulder County Audubon Society annually offers scholarships to teens to attend birding camps. Students 15-17 years old who reside in Colorado are invited to apply for the scholarships. Preference is given to Boulder County Audubon teen naturalists and students who indicate financial need.  Awardees demonstrate a strong interest in natural sciences.

The Camps

Past Teen Naturalists have attended the National Audubon Society’s Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens Program at Hog Island, Maine. Learn more about the Hog Island Camp on the Coastal Maine Bird Studies website.                        

SteveJones_TeenNaturalists-1024x776.jpg

How to Apply

BCAS is now offering two scholarships to National Audubon Society’s Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens program at the Hog Island Audubon Camp, Maine from June 21-26, 2020 (Session II).

The Hog Island scholarship covers the $1395 cost of the program plus $100 for accompanied travel between the camp and the Portland, Maine airport. We also offer up to $500 travel reimbursement for travel between the Teen’s home and the Portland, Maine airport.

Before applying for the scholarship, please learn more about the camp to the Coastal Maine Bird Studies webpage.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be 15-17 years old.

  • A resident of Colorado.

  • This scholarship is open to teens with any level of birding experience who have a keen interest in birds. Binoculars and other birding equipment are available at camp.

  • Scholarship applicants do not have to be part of the BCAS Teen Naturalists program, however, we do encourage participation in Teen Naturalists as it is an opportunity to learn more about local birds and natural history.

Teen’s Responsibilities

  • Attend camp and participate fully.

  • Share your experience with BCAS members by writing an article for On The Wing Newsletter or giving short presentation at a BCAS monthly program within the same calendar year.

 Deadline for submitting this year’s scholarship application is January 1, 2020. If you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please contact us.

Scholarship Application Form

Make sure you visit the website of the camp and thoroughly investigate it before filling out the scholarship application form. Places have already been reserved for scholarship awardees. Do not register for the camp at this time. We will help you complete the camp registration process after the scholarships have been awarded.

Please download and complete the scholarship form (Microsoft Word for emails; PDF for printing). You should then submit the form and the accompanying essay by emailing it to crossbill@boulderaudubon.org (using the Subject Line “Hog Island Scholarship”) or mail it to:

Carol Kampert
Audubon Scholarships
PO Box 2081
Boulder, CO 80306

The letter of recommendation should be submitted to this same email or address.

Past Awardees Experiences

Each awardee is requested to either write a short newsletter story or present at one of the BCAS monthly programs on their experience. The following On The Wing newsletters include stories from past awardees.