RMS Teacher of the Year

The Rocky Mountain Section (RMS)-AAPG each year chooses a K-12 teacher of earth and resource science to represent the section in a national competition held by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) the following year. The sectional RMS Teacher of the Year recipient is awarded $2000 along with an expense paid trip to the annual RMS meeting in the year of selection. The national AAPG Teacher of the Year (Excellence in Teaching Award) personally receives $3,000, an expense-paid trip to the annual AAPG national meeting to receive the award, and the winner’s school receives $3,000.

To qualify for the RMS Teacher of the Year award, a teacher needs to be nominated by their local affiliated geological society. So the first step is to go to the Affiliated Societies page and choose the society that represents your area. The society can then inform the teacher of that society’s requirements for competition.

If the teacher wins the local competition, his or her name is then submitted to the RMS for evaluation. A complete set of rules and forms for the national competition, found at http://foundation.aapg.org/programs/toty/index.cfm, are required for the competition both at the section and national levels. In addition to the cash awards at the national AAPG and sectional RMS levels, most affiliated societies also provide a cash bonus to go with their awards.

The RMS-AAPG is pleased to have had nine national AAPG winners come from the section in the last 20+ years. This is possible only because the local affiliated societies actively search for, select and provide highly qualified nominees from their areas.

Click on the link below to access the application form for the Rocky Mountain Section-AAPG Teacher of the Year:

AAPG-RMS-TOTY-Nomination-Form-2024