Teen Birding Camp Scholarships
Teen Birding Camp Scholarships
Click Here For Application
Click Here For Application
Attention Young Members of Tulsa Audubon!
2020 Birding Camp Scholarship Available
Tulsa Audubon is pleased to announce we are offering two scholarships to young birders to attend a youth birding camp in the summer of 2020. There are several such camps in different parts of the country and the scholarship can be applied to any of these. The eligible camps are outlined below.
Some excellent discussion on youth birding camps can be found on this Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/youngbirders
More good info can be found on the American Birding Associations Young Birder’s Blog: http://youngbirders.aba.org/
To be eligible, you must meet these criteria:
- Live in the general Tulsa area
- Be between 14-18 years old (as of June 1st, 2020) (Max of 17 for the Hog Island camp)
- Be willing to provide a short report (about 10 minutes) at a TAS meeting
- Be willing to provide 10 volunteer hours (such as at Oxley, giving a bird talk to an elementary school class, leading a youth field trip, etc., or your own idea, something meaningful to you.)
To apply, please provide these three things:
- Write an essay (approximately 500 words) answering these questions: What is the importance of birds to you, why is birding an important activity for you, and how does it make you a better conservationist?
- List your five greatest achievements to date. (These need not be bird-related.)
- Provide a letter of recommendation from a teacher, parent or an adult birding friend that should cover what they know about your commitment to birds and birding.
Note: These are not general nature camps, but are designed for youth that have a passion specifically for birds! You don’t need to be an “expert” birder but do need to have a basic knowledge of birding and identifying birds.
The deadline to apply is January 31, 2020, but you are encouraged to send in your applications as soon as possible, since these camps fill up very fast
and we will judge applications as they arrive.
The scholarship will cover up to $1,500 of the camp fee. Transportation and other incidental expenses will be paid by the camper or his/her family. Additional funding to help with transportation may be available on an as needed basis.
Please note we hope to offer this scholarship in future years, so if you are not selected this year, there will be future opportunities. We want every young birder to have a chance to attend one of these camps!
These are the Camps Available
ABA’s Camp Colorado
July 18 – 24, 2020 $1,449 (covered by scholarship)
Location: YMCA of the Rockies – Estes Park, Colorado
Description: Join us as we explore Colorado from grasslands to glaciers! From the shortgrass prairie of northeastern Colorado to the aspen groves and alpine tundra of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Our home away from home will be the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. Campers will find plenty of opportunities to take their birding skills to the next level, meet other young people with similar interests, explore careers in birding and ornithology, and, of course, learn about the bird life and natural history of northern Colorado.
ABA’s Camp Avocet
July 30—August 6, 2020 $1,595 ($1,500 covered by scholarship)
Location: The Virden Center – Lewes, Delaware
Description: Camp Avocet is based at the University of Delaware’s stunning Virden Retreat Center in historic Lewes, Delaware, only minutes away from two major National Wildlife Refuges and a short ride to six ecologically-based birding regions. Are you looking for shorebirds? Well, Camp Avocet will be stacked full of migrants such as dowitchers, Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated, Western and Least Sandpipers, and of course American Avocets numbering in the hundreds. Fabulous field trips led by ABA Staff and guest instructors will be punctuated by terrific educational workshops, making Camp Avocet 2015 a truly exceptional experience!
Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens
June 14-20, 2020 $1,395 (covered by scholarship)
Location: Hog Island, Maine
Description: During this intensive 6-day, 5-night program on Hog Island, some of the country’s best known birders and ornithologists will lead sessions on field identification, bird song recognition, and conservation practices. This program includes the opportunity to observe Audubon’s seabird conservation field research in action, and is the only Hog Island program that lands participants on Eastern Egg Rock during the puffin breeding season.
VENT’s Camp Chiricahua
July 1-12, 2020 & July 7-9, 2020 Approx $2,465 ($1,500 covered by scholarship)
Location: Southeastern Arizona (Tucson, Portal, Sierra Vista)
Description: Camp Chiricahua presents young birders with an extraordinary opportunity to share a mutual love of birds and nature in one of the greatest natural history locations in North America. The camp, co-sponsored by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, American Birding Association, and Leica Sport Optics, is designed for boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 to become familiar with the flora and fauna of Southeast Arizona.
VENT’s Camp Cascades
July 25 - August 5, 2020 Approx $3,415 ($1,500 covered by scholarship)
Location: Washington State’s majestic Puget Sound and incomparable Mt. Rainier National Park
Description: A unique summertime youth program explores the biologically rich ecosystems of Washington State’s majestic Puget Sound and incomparable Mt. Rainier National Park. Camp Cascades, co-sponsored by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, American Birding Association, and Leica Sport Optics, offers young birders between the ages of 14 and 18 the unique opportunity to experience the beautiful Pacific Northwest with their peers. Focusing on two spectacular parts of Washington State, the camp provides a comprehensive survey of the flora and fauna of the Puget Sound region and the dramatic Cascades Mountains.