Each year the Environmental Studies Program acknowledges a number of students, alumni, and community members for their achievements. Click on an individual award title below to view a description and list of recipients:

ES Program Awards:

Each year the Environmental Studies Program acknowledges a number of students, alumni, and community members for their achievements. Click on an individual award title below to view a description and list of recipients:

ES Program Awards:

• Outstanding Senior of the Year (view)
• Outstanding Service by a Senior(s) (view)
• Outstanding Academic Achievement (view)
• Distinction in the Major (view)
• Outstanding ES Alumnus of the Year (view)
• Community Service Award (view)
• Steven Manley Memorial Lecture (view)

ES Scholarship Winners:

• Charles Decker Memorial Scholarship (view)
• Barker Scholarship (view)
• Tom Rogers Scholarship (view)
• McGinnes Environmental Law & Advocacy Scholarship (view)

Check out the ES Program's 2012 Graduating Senior Awards (view list here)

>>> NOTE: PAGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Check back soon for updated historical list of all ES Program award winners!

ES Program Awards

Outstanding Senior of the Year
This Program award is given to one (possibly two) students who have accomplished excellence within the Environmental Studies Major and the University. In addition to obtaining an outstanding G.P.A., a student worthy of this distinction must have also demonstrated a high level of extra curricular service, both within the University and the community.

Outstanding Service by ES Seniors
This award is given to ES students who have demonstrated exemplary environmental service within the Environmental Studies Program, the University community, and/or the community at large. There is no minimum GPA requirement for this award but the student should have demonstrated a continued service to project(s), issues, or organizations related to environmental studies education.

Outstanding Academic Achievement
Award is given all graduating seniors who have an outstanding overall minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5.  Recipients are recognized in the ES Program's Commencement Reception Program and awarded a certificate of achievement.

Distinction in the Major
Award is given all graduating seniors who have a outstanding minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 and have completed a Senior Thesis (ENVS 197) with a grade of A- or higher.  Recipients are recognized on their official UCSB diploma, in the ES Program's Commencement Reception Program and awarded a certificate of achievement.

ES Program's Community Service Award

ES Program's Outstanding Alumnus of the Year

ES Scholarship Winners

Charles Decker Memorial Scholarship
The Matthew Charles Decker Scholarship was established in the loving memory of Matthew Charles Decker, an Environmental Studies undergraduate major at UCSB, who suffered a fatal skiing accident in March of 1995 during his junior year at UCSB. Matthew was an honors scholar whose love and commitment to the environment was an inspiration to all who knew him. He completed a wildlife study program in the Fall of 1994 during which he interacted with wolves, bears and the astonishing beauty of nature. This educational experience left him in awe of our Mother Earth and instilled in him a resounding commitment to work on behalf of the environment.

Tom Rogers Scholarship
The Tom Rogers Scholarship (Fund) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), was established in late 1999 to honor Tom Rogers, a role model for civic and environmental leadership. Among the many achievements of Tom Rogers are his service on the Santa Barbara City Council and County Board of Supervisors up through 1994. As a civil servant, he voiced and voted for sound environmental planning and progressive policies for long-term community benefits. The Fund provides for annual scholarship(s) to be awarded to one or several students who are majors in the Environmental Studies Program at UCSB. Selection of scholarship recipients is based on their personal efforts that embody the ideals of civic responsibility and environmental stewardship exemplified by Tom Rogers in his career.

Coeta Barker Scholarship
Made possible by the generosity of the Coeta and Donald Barker Foundation.  The Environmental Studies Program awards Barker Scholarships annually to assist students who enroll in unpaid Environmental Studies Program Internships. The purpose of this scholarship is to lessen the financial burden on students so that they may pursue an unpaid internship and gain valuable hands-on learning experience in the environmental field of their choice.

McGinnes Environmental Law & Advocacy Scholarship
Established in the name of retired ES faculty member, Marc McGinnes, in recognition of his decades of service to the Environmental Studies Program, UCSB, and the community in the fields of environmental advocacy, protection, law and leadership.  The award recognizes a graduating senior with outstanding academic achievement and has a demonstrated passion and aptitude for environmental law and advocacy. 

Steven Manley Memorial Lecture
Established in Memory of Steven Manley (1958 - 1979).  While working for his second summer as a firefighter with the California Division of Forestry, Steve Manley and three other firefighters lost their lives on August 15, 1979, battling a brush wildfire near Santa Maria. He was a 21-year old Environmental Studies Major in his third year at UCSB at the time. Steve Manley was an active proponent of the protection, conservation and planned use of the environmental landscape. It was his field of study and way of life. His summer firefighting job was directly related to his desire to learn by doing in the protection of the land. He had a lifelong interest in the outdoors, the sea and physical activity.  This lecture series is a celebration of his life.