The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) has awarded $22,500 in scholarships to 14 college students studying the surveying profession with intention of joining the profession when they graduate.
 
“Selecting this year’s recipients was very challenging because of the number of excellent and qualified students who applied and demonstrated real financial need,” said NSPS executive director Curt Sumner, LS.  “The students the NSPS Student Foundation selected are a very impressive group and should have no problem finding great jobs as surveyors when they graduate.”
 
Lowell H. & Dorothy Loving Scholarship
 
Benjamin Joel Adams, a senior in the surveying engineering program at Ferris State University in Michigan, was selected to receive the top award, a $2,500 undergraduate scholarship awarded in honor of Lowell H. and Dorothy Loving.
 
Adams selected the surveying profession as his goal when a four-year highway construction project began next to his home and he got to see what surveyors did.  He went on to become valedictorian of his high school class with a 4.127 GPA and a Dean’s List student at Ferris.  By the time he graduates this December he will have completed two surveying internships and 21 classes focusing on surveying and mapping and related fields. He hopes to pursue a career in hydrographic surveying.
 
AAGS Joseph F Dracup Scholarship
 
Seth Weckman, a senior in the land surveying/mapping sciences program at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, was selected to receive a $2,000 scholarship from the AAGS (American Association for Geodetic Surveying) Joseph F. Dracup scholarship fund. 
 
Having completed an AAS degree majoring in land surveying in the spring of 2011, Weckman has worked summers the past two years as a member of field crews, operating the GPS, total station, data collector, and automatic level.  Maintaining his 4.0 grade point average through graduation seems attainable, and Weckman intends to take the licensure test in Minnesota to become a Registered Land Surveyor after graduation. 
 
Nettie Dracup Memorial Scholarships
 
Two students, Cody James Dellinger, a junior studying land surveying and mapping science at East Tennessee State University, and Beau Immel, a senior studying geomatics engineering at the California State University – Fresno, were awarded $2,000 scholarships from the Nettie Dracup Memorial Scholarship. 
 
Dellinger first became interested in surveying when he “job shadowed” a surveyor in middle school.  An active member of ETSU’s surveying club and member of TAPS, Dellinger worked as an intern for the Tennessee Valley Authority survey crews the past two summers.  He intends to complete his four-year degree and get licensure before joining going to work as a surveyor. 
 
Immel expects to graduate from Fresno State in 2014 but is considering graduate level study.  He has passed the FS exam and intends to work as a land surveyor. He was the team leader for the winning team in this year’s NSPS student competition. He is a member of the honor societies Lambda Sigma for land surveying and Tau Beta Pi for engineering. 
 
AAGS Surveying Graduate Fellowship
 
Benjamin Vander Jagt, a Ph.D. candidate within the geodesy and geodetic science program within the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State University, was awarded the $2,000 AAGS Graduate Fellowship.
 
Having completed an MS degree in surveying engineering from Ferris State University, and passing the Land Surveyor in Training (LSIT) test, and working in the public and private sector of the surveying profession, Jagt is conducting research on the application of remote sensing on issues that impact society.  His paper will address mapping snow cover in alpine areas of the Western U.S. 
 
Fellows Scholarship
 
Jared Serpico, a senior in the University of Maine’s surveying engineering technology program, was awarded the $2,000 Fellows Scholarship. 
 
A variety of work related experiences in the Northeast U.S. including two summers working for the U.S. Forest Service in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, have helped focus his interest on surveying.  He has been involved with the Maine Society of Land Surveyors. 
 
Berntsen International Scholarships
 
Claudia Michelle Barrueta, a senior studying geomatics engineering with a focus on land surveying at California State University in Fresno, was chosen to receive the $2,000 Berntsen International Scholarship.
 
President of the Fresno State Chapter of NSPS and editor of the student magazine Fore Sight, Barrueta has gotten considerable experience via internships and part time jobs at a variety of surveying companies in California.  She is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering and Lambda Sigma Geomatics honors societies.  She would like to pursue an MBA degree upon graduation to complement her surveying skills. 
 
Craig Gilbert Jr., a senior in the land surveying program at Hinds Community College, received a $1,000 Berntsen International Scholarship.  Currently working full time as a farm manager, he intends to graduate in the spring of 2014 and pursue work as a survey technician, while pursuing his surveyor’s license.
 
Schonstedt Scholarships
 
Two students, Franck Oliver Kapoko Kamtchang, a junior in the surveying engineering program at New Mexico State University, and Cathleen Marie Schmersal, a senior in the geomatics engineering program at California State University in Fresno, were presented $1,500 scholarships from the Schonstedt Scholarship program. 
 
Kamtchang moved to the U. S. from his native Cameroon to study surveying.  Since middle school this has been his goal to follow in the footsteps of his surveyor father.  He entered New Mexico’s surveying program with the highest mathematics placement exam score ever, and a straight-A student. He is in Lambda Sigma surveying honors society. He has volunteered at a local surveying company and intends to pursue an advanced degree program. 
 
Schmersal discovered surveying when she and her father visited job sites to see what types of careers were available. After completing general education at Santa Rosa Junior College she moved to the four-year program at California State University in Fresno to enter the geomatics engineering program. She too is a member of Lambda Sigma, of which she is secretary, and intends to pursue a surveying career. 
 
Cady McDonnell Memorial Scholarship
 
Na Lin, a sophomore in the Geographic Information Science and Geospatial Surveying Program at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, born in China, was presented the $1,000 Cady McDonnell Memorial Scholarship.  She intends to complete her BS degree in 2015 and complete the MS program, before working towards her RPLS license in Texas. 
 
Tri-State Surveying & Photogrammetry Kris M. Kunze Memorial Scholarship
 
Julianna Jefferson, a senior in the wildlife ecology and conservation program and agricultural science program at the University of Nevada in Reno, she has pursued a career using geospatial sciences.
 
NSPS Scholarships
 
Two students, John DeChant, Jr., a junior in the surveying and mapping program at the University of Akron, and Colton Riddle, a junior in the geomatic surveying program at North Carolina A&T State University, were presented with $1,000 scholarships from the National Society of Professional Surveyors.  
 
DeChant hopes to own and operate his own surveying company and has completed several internships with this in mind.  Riddle has similar aspirations to own and operate his own surveying business and is a regular at NCSS meetings to meet and learn from working surveyors in North Carolina.