ANNUAL "BUCK" ROGERS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
SPONSORED BY THE
MISSOURI CONSERVATION HERITAGE FOUNDATION
Since 1999, Missouri Outdoor Communicators (MOC) has awarded over $40,000 to qualified college students interested in a career in outdoor communications through the “Buck” Rogers Memorial Scholarship.
Currently, the award includes a $2,000 college scholarship sponsored by the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation, a one-year MOC membership and an all-expense paid trip to MOC’s annual conference.
Applications for the 2025 “Buck” Rogers Memorial Scholarship will open on January 1, 2025.
Please contact our scholarship chair, Neima Shahdadi, at neimashahdadi@gmail.com, or MOC executive director Kyle Stewart at kyle@tbwgroup.net for more information.
Completed applications and supporting documents must be received (postmarked or emailed) by February 28, 2025.
Interested students will need to supply the following documents to supplement their applications:
Resume or curriculum vitae
College or high school transcript (official or unofficial)
A one-page double-spaced personal statement detailing applicant’s educational and career goals
One writing/media sample, such as:
Published outdoor communications work
Term paper or essay written on an outdoors or conservation-related topic
One letter of recommendation from either:
Faculty in the applicant’s field of study
Outdoor communicator(s) familiar with the applicant’s work
Employer(s) familiar with the applicant’s work
Completed applications and supporting documents must be received (postmarked or emailed) by February 28, 2025 and should be submitted to Neima Shahdadi at neimashahdadi@gmail.com or mailed to:
Neima Shahdadi
210 Lowry Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
ABOUT THE “BUCK” ROGERS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP:
The scholarship honors the memory of E.L. "Buck" Rogers, a founding member of MOC, who passed away on Dec. 22, 1997, at the age of 74.
Rogers was born on Jan. 20, 1923, in Columbia, Mo., to O.R. and Edith Rogers. He attended Columbia's Hickman High School, then went on to the University of Missouri-Columbia to earn both a bachelor's degree in art and a master's degree in journalism.
Rogers was a writer for Field & Stream Magazine and later was public relations director at Johnson Motors in Waukegan, Ill. In 1957, he returned to Columbia to develop an outdoors travel and fishing promotion and advertising company. In addition to co-founding MOC, Rogers was a past president of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), and founder and past president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW). He also was the author of a political column in the Columbia Daily Tribune.
PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Year Recipient, School
2024 Silvia Stambaugh, University of Missouri-Columbia (Click on Silvia’s name to learn more about her)
2019 Emily Adams, University of Missouri-Columbia
2018 Lauren Plunkett, Drury University and Noah DesCombes, University of Central Missouri
2017 Hunter Whiteley, Kansas State University
2016 Lauren Plunkett, Drury University
2015 Ben Verhoef, University of Missouri-Columbia
2014 Tim Wall, University of Missouri-Columbia
2013 Tyler Mahoney, Rockhurst College
2012 Hannah Rogers, University of Central Missouri
2011 John McLaughlin, University of Missouri-Columbia
2010 Jacob Swafford, University of Missouri-Columbia
2009 Michael Amantea, University of Missouri-Columbia
2008 Christine Tew, University of Missouri-Columbia
2007 Christine Tew, University of Missouri-Columbia
2006 Ashley Berkler, University of Missouri-Columbia
2005 Sara Muri, University of Missouri-Columbia
2004 Kelsey Dayton, University of Missouri-Columbia
2003 Raina Tamsyn Jones, University of Missouri-Columbia
2002 Paul Carr, University of Central Missouri
2001 Gregory Laslo, University of Missouri-Columbia
Walter Wiese, Truman State University
2000 Kathleen Kerr, University of Missouri-Columbia
1999 Jason L. Jenkins, University of Missouri-Columbia