EESG Expanding Access to AAG Travel Award

In order to promote diversity, inclusivity, and broader accessibility within energy geographies, this award seeks to support participation from a broader community of scholars by partially offsetting the costs of attending the AAG Annual Meeting, either virtually or in person. 

This award is open to students (undergraduate and graduate), postdoctoral scholars, scholars from developing regions (see AAG's list here), faculty and staff at minority-serving institutions (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions), community colleges, K-12 instructors, and those with annual gross incomes falling below $50,000. (This list is adapted from AAG's sliding fee scale.) 

Applicants should be registered to attend the AAG Annual Meeting in the year the award is given, either in person or virtually, and must either participate by presenting a paper or poster or by serving on a panel, or — if not presenting — explain how they will interact with EESG programming during the conference. 

How applications are reviewed 

The EESG Awards Committee will prioritize applications based on these criteria: (a) applicants with no or limited conference funding options (e.g. because they are not eligible for conference travel funding from their institution, or because other available funding sources are competitive, such as the AAG Student Travel Grants, AAG-GTU Student Travel Awards, AAG Community College Travel Grants, or travel awards from other AAG specialty groups); (b) applicants who are presenting work or serving on a panel in an EESG-sponsored session; (c) applicants who are presenting work or serving on a panel that is not sponsored by EESG but aligns with its mission, vision, and values in promoting energy geographies scholarship, practice, and education; or (d) applicants who are attending but not presenting at the conference and can detail their plans to engage with EESG programming. 

An award winner will be selected at random from within this pool. 

Award 

$150 

Eligibility 

Applicants must: 

• Be registered for the AAG Annual Meeting, either in person or virtually 

• Belong to one of the groups listed above 

• Have no or limited conference funding options 

• Either present work or serve on a panel in an EESG-sponsored session; or present work or serve on a panel that is not sponsored by EESG but aligns with its mission, vision, and values; or, if not presenting, plan to engage with EESG programming at the conference 

If applicants are AAG members, they must be a current member of EESG at the time of application or become an EESG member upon or prior to receipt of the award. Non-AAG members are also eligible to be nominated and do not have to be EESG members. 

Submission instructions 

Please submit your contact information, confirm your eligibility for the award based on the guidelines above, and provide either your paper, poster, or panel title and abstract (if presenting at the conference) or your reason for attendance and plans to engage with EESG programming (if not presenting), in this form.

Submission Deadline: Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 11:59pm ET (USA) 

Incomplete applications or applications arriving after the announced closing date will not be considered. EESG will notify the winners as soon as possible, and will make every reasonable effort to do so by one month before the meeting. The results will be announced in the EESG Business Meeting at the AAG Annual Meeting. 

Questions? Contact Johanna Engström (joem@ufl.edu; Co-Chair) or Tiffany Grobelski (grobelski@gustavus.edu; Co-Chair) 

About this award 

The EESG Expanding Access to AAG Travel Award was introduced in 2026. It replaces the Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Award, which EESG presented from 2021 to 2026. 

Both awards come from the same commitment. The Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Award recognized people whose work advanced diversity and inclusion in energy geographies. This award puts the same funds toward a concrete barrier instead: the cost of attending the AAG Annual Meeting. Recognition matters, but for many of the scholars we most want in the room, cost is what keeps them out.