Updated October 2019

$1,500 Nature-Saving Scholarship for Students

$1500 Scholarship for Those Who Care

An important announcement!

We’re happy to inform you that we’ve finished counting the votes for the $1,500 Nature-Saving Scholarship for Students.

It’s been a wild ride, and we had such a great time checking out all of the entries that you submitted. So, first of all, we’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who participated.

It was kind of difficult to choose the winning works, too. The absolute majority of the submissions were very inspiring, creative, and interesting to read. But we did manage to pick the best of the best.

Fun fact: readers who placed their votes mostly preferred longer works. Which means that the voters got deeply involved and paid a great deal of attention to detail.

But enough chatting. We all know why we’re here. It’s time to announce the winners!

First place and the $1,000 prize is awarded to Tamás Szigeti. His work Observe, delight in, reminisce – repeat! earned a whopping 447 votes (almost two times more than the second-place winner).
Second place and the prize of $500 goes to Abigail Fletcher. Her work 10 Lifeguard Approved Tips for Responsible Behavior Near Water received 263 votes.

 
Together, our two winners collected almost 80% of all votes placed.

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks again to everyone who submitted their work!

 
 
 

The Nature-Saving Rules contest is open: small text but big step in nature conservancy

Thousands of watersheds, parks, trails, and forests are suffering from environmental issues. But guess what? Today you have a unique chance to help nature conservancy without ever leaving your house—and you may even win an award! We are excited to give you the opportunity to win a $1,000 or $500 scholarship using only your writing skills. Twice a year, we hold a competition to award the best writers who support a responsible approach to outdoor activities!

WHAT WE STRIVE FOR

Hikers often negatively impact the surrounding environment without even knowing it by transporting invasive species, disturbing wildlife, leaving waste, etc.
We’re inspired by the Leave No Trace principles and want to encourage every backpacker to follow these rules.

The Hike & Cycle Scholarship is all about raising environmental awareness among youth by giving them a solid incentive in the form of a scholarship. What we are trying to achieve here is to make more people understand that the environment is in dire need of their attention and help.

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS

  • You must be currently enrolled in high school, university, or college. Applications from all countries are accepted.
  • You must create an original list of nature-saving rules (according to the requirements listed below).
  • The winners will be required to send us proof of their educational status.

REASONS TO APPLY

  1. The first place winner will get $1,000 and the second place, $500. Note: each participant may send in only one submission and win only one award.
  2. We use student-generated content to write articles and make infographics on various topics concerning the environment. Your contribution will help raise awareness among people reading our blog posts!
  3. The best authors can count on their writing being published on our blog. Naturally, that means our readers will see your name!
  4. Winners will receive individual certificates from HikeAndCycle.com.

PARTICIPATION RULES

1. Prepare a list of nature-saving rules on one of the following subjects:
  • The Nature-Saving Rules of Responsible Camping
  • How Hikers Can Make Sure That They Don’t Hurt Wildlife
  • Recommendations for Responsible Behavior Near Bodies of Water

You’re free to focus on a specific outdoor activity (climbing, cycling, kayaking, etc.) or write more generally.

2. Make up a creative, catchy title that reflects your ideas.

3. Share the scholarship post on social media using Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. The links to the shared post must be sent along with your application.

4. Send your list and all necessary links to [email protected].

By sending us your application, you confirm that you understand the rules of participation and that you are willing to accept the decision of the judges.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  1. Your work must be structured in the form of a list and must be directly connected to one of the three given topics.
  2. Your list must:
    • Be written in English
    • Include five to ten rules
    • Be no longer than 400 words
    • Be 100% plagiarism-free (see details at Wikipedia.org)
    • Have a file name of “Nature_Scholarship_First Name_Last Name”
    • Be sent in .doc or .docx format
    • Be submitted within the deadline
      Note that submission starts on November 1, 2017, and ends at midnight EST on March 11, 2018.
  3. Your list must be shared on social media.

If you have some unorthodox or groundbreaking ideas, you should definitely give this contest a try! We encourage all participants to show their creative side.

Although the preferred number of rules on the list is five to ten, four or even eleven rules may be accepted. But only if the rules are good enough to deserve it!

HOW WE EVALUATE YOUR WORK

We have a special panel of skillful writers and editors with significant experience in hiking, camping, and various outdoor activities. These judges will evaluate your work based on these requirements:

  1. Usefulness. Make sure that your advice can be practically implemented and is helpful. (40 points)
  2. Originality. The more daring and unorthodox your ideas are, the greater your chances of winning! (30 points)
  3. Clarity. Your work should get straight to the point without unnecessary digressions. (30 points)

Choosing The Winner Online

CHOOSING THE WINNER ONLINE

On April 2, 2018, HikeAndCycle.com will publish the seven most outstanding lists, and from there, our online audience will be the judge. What’s the mechanism for voting? It’s simple: the writer with most shares of his or her post on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ will have higher chances of winning! Our support team will make sure that cheating is not possible. On April 20, 2018, we will count the shares.

To determine the final scholarship winners, we will take into consideration the results of online voting as well as the opinion of our esteemed experts.

AWARDS

On April 27, 2018, HikeAndCycle.com will publish the list of winners. Once proof of enrollment has been provided, the two winners will receive their awards. If the winner does not provide that proof, the award will be given to another suitable participant.

Our Guest Experts

It is our honor and privilege to hold this competition with the help of these experienced professionals:

Alexandra Pearce
Managing Editor at newnature.co.uk. Holds several communications and social media roles for nature and wildlife groups.
Martin Harper
Global Conservation Director of The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Adrienne Koopersmith
America's premier eventologist. Highly opinionated creative writer. Owner of the KOOPERSMITHin' blog
Andrew Whitelee
Ecologist, trustee of Wader Quest, founder of Verdant Wildlife.
Piers Warren
Conservationist, wildlife film-maker, author, and founder of Wildeye (International School of Wildlife Film-making at wildeye.co.uk)
Cyndi Hall
Owner of the Reduce Footprints blog. Just a person who loves the Earth.
Margherita Ragg
Freelance writer passionate about wildlife, ecotourism, and outdoor adventure activities. Runs popular blog thecrowdedplanet.com
Shane Shirley
Green consumer advocate, digital marketing consultant. Founder of shaneshirleymedia.com. Owner of shaneshirley.com blog
Chelsea Alves
Hiking and adventure blogger, owner of sunkissedhiker.com, YA horror novelist, freelance writer.
Tina Lanciault
Outdoor lover who enjoys hiking and microadventures. Runs Having Fun Outdoors blog
Alexandra Kenin
Urban hiking fan. Author of Urban Trails: San Francisco. Founder of Urban Hiker SF.
Kirsten Hines
Author, photographer, and environmental educator focused on conservation and nature travel. Owner of Kirsten Nature & Travel.
Lisa Rainsong
Professional musician, educator, and naturalist. Owner of Listening in Nature blog.
Vern Dewit
Mountain climber, canoeist, hiker, photographer, and secular humanist who enjoys science, history, philosophy and cognitive psychology. Owner of explor8ion.com.
Megan Claire
Australian travel-a-holic, adventure travel enthusiast and digital nomad blogging everywhere around the world at mappingmegan.com
Adam Nutting
Hiker, backpacker, jeeper and blogger. Co-founder of Epic Social and Gear Forward board member. Creator of hikingthetrail.com
Nora Simmons
Nora manages the Foundation’s communications and media relations at wisconservation.org. She is devoted to protecting wild species.
Jenn and Ed Coleman
Adventurers who inspire everyone by their blog colemanconcierge.com to expand their comfort zone and to explore the world around them.
Cris Hazzard
Creator of hikingguy.com. Knows everything about hiking and hiking gear.
Flavia Müller
Wildlife enthusiast and defender. Addicted to travelling and being outdoors. Runs fmphotography.ch
Megan Maxwell
Long-distance hiker, author, wilderness professional, and outdoor travel blogger and founder of appalachiantrailgirl.com
Diane Spicer
Wisdom woman, who loves her hiking trail time and helps every female to enjoy the wonderful sport of hiking with ease and grace at hiking-for-her.com
Nicole Atkins
Nicole has over 25 years experiencing a variety of outdoor sports. She’s also done some wilderness guiding and training. You can find her at modernoutdoors.net.
Diane Shearer
Graphic designer and illustrator. Her art is inspired by time spent hiking, climbing and running in South Africa. Owner of dianeshearer.co
Deirdre Rosenberg
Photographer, writer, public speaker, creator of letsplayinstead.com . She aims to inspire, motivate and teach women to get outside and be empowered by wilderness.
Andreea-Elena
Mind traveler, photographer. Lover of slow traveling. Blogs on gypseeadventures.com about camping, hiking, eco fashion, and many other topics.
Gerry
Travel blogger, backpacker, holistic healing fan, scuba diver. Telling the travel stories without sugar coating on her blog travelbirdie.me
Daren Worcester
Hiker and founder of northeasthikes.com. He is on the hunt for the best hikes in Maine and New Hampshire.
Justin Lichter
Long distance adventurer, who hiked over 30,000 miles in the past ten years. Creator of justinlichter.com
Josh
The ultimate fan of California. Founder of californiathroughmylens.com