Awards & Grants

CAG Study Group Awards

           Canadian Women and Geography Study Group
           Environment and Resources Study Group
           Tourism and Recreation Study Group
           Economic and Social Change Study Group
           Health and Health Care Study Group
           Indigenous Peoples Working Group
           Rural Geography Study Group
           Canadian Geomorphology Research Group
           Historical Geography Study Group

Canadian Women and Geography
The SUZANNE MACKENZIE Memorial Fund

Suzanne Mackenzie was a much beloved member of the geographical community, in Canada and internationally, who died at home in Nelson, B.C. on October 24, 1998. She will long be remembered for her courage, her commitment to feminism, her deep sense of caring for friends, family and students, her sense of justice and right and her irrepressible humour, bound up in a generous spirit.

Every second year, the fund established by The Canadian Women and Geography Study Group (CWAG) in the memory of Suzanne Mackenzie, supports the presentation of a lecture by a woman whose involvement in geography bears a significant correspondence with Suzanne's interests and passions. The lecture takes place at the Annual Meeting of the CAG. A sub-committee of CWAG is responsible for the selection.

It is possible to make donations to the memorial fund in Suzanne's memory and we encourage you to do so to ensure that the memorial lecture can be held on a regular biennial basis. Those individuals who would like to make a tax-deductible contribution should forward a cheque (made out to The Canadian Association of Geographers) to: Audrey Kobayashi, Department of Geography, Queen's University, Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6.

Environment and Resources Study Group
The Canadian Association of Geographers / Statistics Canada
Student Award for Research into Human Impacts on the Canadian Environment

The award is given to an undergraduate student in geography and/or environmental studies/science for the best paper examining impacts of human activity on Canada's environment. It was established to recognize and promote undergraduate research on Canada's environment and encourage the use of Statistics Canada's data in the area of environmental analysis.
The winning student receives:
• a year's membership in the CAG
• an opportunity to present his/her paper at the CAG national annual meeting where a certificate and letter of commendation will be presented
• a subsidy of $750 towards the cost of registration, travel and living expenses to enable attendance at the CAG national annual conference
• nation-wide publication of his/her name on the Statistics Canada and CAG Environment and Resources Study Group web sites, and publication of the paper in the CAG Environment and Resources Study Group newsletter
• complimentary copies of Human Activity and the Environment, Statistics Canada's flagship environmental publication

All undergraduate students in departments of geography and/or environmental studies/science in postsecondary institutions across Canada may apply. For more information, please see www.statcan.ca/english/liaison/impact.htm
CAG Environment and Resources Study Group, Environmental Studies Program, The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 2E9

Tourism and Recreation Study Group

The CAG Tourism and Recreation Study Group presents student awards for oral presentations at Study Group sponsored sessions at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Geographers. All students registered at Canadian Universities who are current CAG members at the time of the annual conference are eligible. In order to be considered for an award, students must submit copies of their abstracts to the Study Group Chair prior to the conference. Award recipients will receive a one year membership to the CAG and a one year membership to the Tourism and Recreation Study Group.

Economic and Social Change Study Group

The CAG Study Group on Economic and Social Change annually presents an award of $100 for best paper presented by a student at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Geographers. All students registered at Canadian Universities who are current members of the CAG at the time of the annual conference, and whose papers fall under the broad category of studies in economic and social change, are eligible.

Health and Health Care Study Group

Purpose: The student presentation awards are to recognize excellence in research and presentation skills among the students in the group. It started in 1997 and is now a key feature of the group's activity at the CAG meetings.

Eligibility: Membership in the CAG + student OR supervisor must be member of the HHCSG at the time of the CAG meeting.

Process: This is a presentation award and does NOT currently require that the student submit a paper. All papers delivered by elligible graduate students at the CAG meeting are adjudicated by at least two members who are post-grads. Elligible students or their supervisors will please identify themselves to the specialty group chair prior to the CAG meeting. A cash award (value between $60-100 depending on the group's finances) is given to the best paper(s).

Indigenous Peoples Working Group

The Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG), Statistics Canada, and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada annually award The Robin P. Armstrong Memorial Prize for Excellence in Native Studies to a graduate student in geography or native studies for the best Master's or Ph.D. thesis on an aboriginal topic. A cash prize of $1,000 is presented at the annual CAG conference to a student who, during the current or previous calendar year, has completed a Master's or PhD thesis in native studies or geography related to Canada's aboriginal peoples.

Rural Geography Study Group

A prize of a certificate, letter and $100 is awarded annually for the best paper given by a student at the CAG conference.

Canadian Geomorphology Research Group

T he CGRG/GCRG annually presents the Olav Slaymaker Award for an oral or poster presentation at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Geographers. All students registered at Canadian Universities who are current members of the CAG at the time of the annual conference are eligible. The award is $100-$200.

Historical Geography Study Group

The Best Essay in Canadian Historical Geography Award will be awarded annually for the best essay in Canadian historical geography written by an undergraduate student, Masters student, or recently graduated undergraduate or Masters student.

Eligibility: The competition is open to all full-time or part-time undergraduate or Masters students attending a credited Canadian college or university, or to anyone who has graduated from an undergraduate or Masters program at a credited Canadian college or university within the 12-month period preceding competition deadline. Doctoral students are not eligible to compete for this award.

The Essay: The essay must be a research paper on some aspect of Canadian historical geography broadly defined, and must have been written anytime after January 2008. The essay may be submitted in either French or English, and must not exceed 6,000 words, including references and footnotes or endnotes.

Deadline: Essays must be received no later than April 15,2009.

Submission Instructions: Essays must be submitted by electronic mail to Andrew Baldwin at baldwina@queensu.ca. Please also include with your submission the following information: your name and contact information; a detailed abstract no longer than 250 words; the name of the institution you attended when you wrote the essay; the name of the course for which the essay was written; and the name of the course instructor. Please note that the essay need not have been written for an historical geography course per se.

Judging Criteria: Essays will be evaluated against three criteria: originality, research quality, and style, and will be judged by an adjudicating committee composed of three Canadian historical geographers.

The AWARD: The award carries a $100.00 cash prize, plus a one-year membership to the Canadian Association of Geographers and to the Historical Geography Study Group. The winner of the award will be announced at the Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting in Ottawa in May 2009 and in the Canadian Association Geographers newsletter. In the event of a tie, the adjudicating committee may issue two awards. If no submission is judged to be appropriate, the adjudicating committee may decide to withhold the award.