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The family of Craig Tufts, Family Summits, Inc. and National Wildlife Federation announce the 3rd annual Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship Award, which is given to a young person between the ages of 8 and 18 to attend a week-long, summer outdoor educational adventure camp with a parent or guardian.

Award Details

The Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship Fund was established in memory of Craig Tufts, chief naturalist of National Wildlife Federation. Each year the Fund grants an award to one youth to attend a Family Nature Summit. The Fund provides travel, room and board and program fees for the award winner and an accompanying parent or guardian.

How to Apply: Applicant will submit an original essay that addresses the following:

• What are your favorite outdoor or nature-related activities?
• Describe a memorable outdoor or nature-related experience and the impact it had on you.
• What aspects of the Family Summit program are you most interested in and why?
• Describe why attending a week-long adventure camp would be important to you and how you would share your experience with others.
• Describe how you would share your experience with others in your community. 

Each essay MUST …

• Be accompanied by a completed application form
• Be written by the applicant (not a parent or guardian)
• Be no more than three pages, double-spaced (about 750 words)
• Be typed in a 12-point font or legibly handwritten
• Include page number and applicant’s name on each page

Applications may be submitted via
Email: tuftsaward@nwf.org
Fax: 703-438-6468
or
Mail:
Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship Award c/o National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
Reston, VA 20190

Applications must be received by 5 p.m. E.S.T. on March 30, 2012, for consideration.

Who was Craig Tufts?

Craig was everyone’s favorite naturalist. From the moment you met him, you liked what he was thinking and wanted to know more! He was excited about everything living and understood a tremendous amount about the natural world around him, no matter where he was. He could look at an insect under a log and tell you what its name was or what family it was in and what it was related to, what it probably ate for dinner and where it was going to lay its eggs…. It didn’t matter if you were near his home in Northern Virginia or on a mountainside in Colorado, somehow Craig knew and remembered all these details! Being with Craig on a walk was like having a talking field guide beside you, with the words just pouring out. Craig was always happy to point things out to anyone, and was just as excited to see something for the fiftieth time as he was to see it for the first time! Craig worked for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) for 33 years as Chief Naturalist.

What is the Craig Tufts Environmental Education Fund?

The Craig Tufts Environmental Education Fund is intended to continue Craig’s legacy and to replicate the spark that he provided for so many because of his extensive knowledge of and appreciation for the natural world. The Fund will finance an annual award that recognizes an individual between the ages of 8 and 18 who displays an interest in the natural world. The award aims to foster that interest and encourage a lifelong path of environmental study. It is our hope that the Fund would provide an opportunity for a young person to experience, in a personally meaningful way, NWF’s mission of inspiring individuals of all ages to care about and ultimately act to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat. 

How can I contribute to this fund?

If you wish to make a memorial contribution, please consider this fund as a way of carrying on Craig's legacy. Donations can be sent to:

National Wildlife Federation
Attn: Craig Tufts Volunteer Education Fund
11100 Wildlife Federation Drive
Reston, VA 20190

2011 Craig Tufts Scholarship Recipient Thank You 

August 18, 2011

Please convey Magdalia's and my deepest thanks to Mrs. Tufts, the Family Summit officers, and everyone else who made our trip to this year's Summit possible.

Magdalia seems like a new person, having tasted the outdoors at a differently deep level. She was inspired not only by her learning, but also by the network of people she met who share and live a commitment to the well-being of human and nonhuman lives.

My own learning will greatly benefit students in my college courses, particularly the new alternative agricultures course I've put together in the environmental studies and peace and justice departments.  In fact, attending the Summit provided just the opportunities I needed to gel ideas
and practices for the upcoming semester. The people, of course, were a very special group, and I feel fortunate to have met them.

We hope to see you all again. Magdalia just started a savings account for the trip to Estes Park next year!

Best wishes for continued Family Summit success,

Joan Armon

(Grandmother, Magdalia Campobasso)