An Investment in Florida's Future

Private Funds

Aylesworth Foundation for the Advancement of Marine Sciences

Old Salt Fishing Club

Chuck Skoch Florida Sea Grant Scholarship

Aylesworth Foundation for the Advancement of Marine Sciences
Ralph and Kitty Aylesworth, long-time members of the Florida fishing industry, established the Aylesworth Foundation for the Advancement of Marine Sciences in 1984. They created the foundation to make a permanent investment in the fishing and seafood industry. The Aylesworths believed that scientific knowledge in marine related areas coupled with decisions based on environmental and conservation factors will prove to be the only way to develop, utilize and manage Florida’s renewable marine resources on a long-term basis.

The Foundation is now operated by a Board of Directors with current or previous ties to the Aylesworth family, the seafood industry, fishery management agencies and the academic institutions in Florida. Each fall semester, the Foundation advertises for scholarship applications throughout all 14 academic institutions participating in the Florida Sea Grant College Program. Students are chosen by the Foundation as scholarship recipients based on a competitive process. Any student interested in pursuing a marine or coastal related academic program in a Florida college or university is eligible to apply, with the focus of the scholarship program based on master’s and doctoral level students.

Successful students must demonstrate financial need with academic merit; leadership and personal character are also considered. Long-time Florida residents receive preference. Conducted as a partnership program with the Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA), new scholarship recipients are recognized at the awards and installation luncheon at the annual meeting of SFA.

The first scholarship competition was held in 1986 and the first scholarship was awarded at the beginning of 1987. To date, 76 students in 12 Florida universities have received the prestigious scholarships. With a total commitment to date of $427,974, the average scholarship has been $5,631 over a student’s M.S. or Ph.D. program. Of the 76 students, 66 have completed the program and 10 are still receiving scholarship support or completing their degree program.

The University of Florida, University of South Florida, Florida State University and the Florida Institute of Technology have had the most students. Seventeen different academic disciplines have been supported, with biology/marine science and food science and human nutrition students receiving the most frequent support.

Students completing degrees have begun careers in occupations that will have a direct impact on the fishing, seafood or marine industries. Others are continuing their education with additional degrees, mostly at the Ph.D. level (Appendix Table 4). Of the 66 students who are now at work, based on their current or last known job, 32 of them, or 48 percent are working in Florida. The rest are employed at 14 other states and two other countries.
   

Jennifer Jarrell, a 2002
Old Salt scholar


Learn more about the Old Salt Scholarship		 Old Salt Fishing Club

The Old Salt Fishing Club of Madeira Beach, Florida was formed in 1975 as one result of a partnership between fishermen and the scientific community studying the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico. As their logo proclaims, club members are dedicated to sportfishing with the goals of recreation, science and conservation. Club members voted in 1992 to fund a scholarship with the proceeds of their annual Old Salt Loop Billfish Tournament and from other donations. The Old Salt students may be interested in any academic discipline having direct application in marine science ranging from basic biology and engineering to economics. The Old Salt Fishing Club award is for students and for enrollment at the University of South Florida, since this is the university with major marine programs in the St. Petersburg, Florida area where most of the Club members reside.

The first “Old Salt” scholarship was awarded in 1993. Since then, ten students at the University of South Florida have been awarded scholarships totaling $31,350, or about $2,612 per student. These scholarships are sometimes supplemented by the Aylesworth Foundation scholarships, since the “Old Salt” scholarship program is administered by the Aylesworth Foundation for the Advancement for the Advancement of Marine Sciences. Seven students have completed Ph.D.’s, two a master’s degree, and two are currently completing degrees or remain on scholarship.

Most “Old Salt” students have majored in biology, microbiology or marine science, and one majored in marine botany. Of the nine who have completed degrees, five are employed as government agency marine-related researchers, two are continuing their education, one is teaching at a university and one is self-employed.
   


1999 Skoch winner
J. Michael Tyler, pictured
with the late Ms. Vilma
Skoch, mother of Chuck Skoch.

Learn more about the
Chuck Skoch Scholarship		 Chuck Skoch Florida Sea Grant Scholarship
In 1997, the Charles Skoch family of Boynton Beach, Florida, created an endowment within the University of Florida Foundation, which funds a $1,000 per year Chuck Skoch Florida Sea Grant Scholarship. The first scholarship was awarded in 1998. In this program, a high school senior student is selected through competition in the Florida Annual State Science and Engineering Fair as conducted statewide by the Florida Foundation for Future Scientists.

The student must be a senior in the Science Fair competition and intend to major in marine biology, zoology, oceanography, ocean and coastal engineering, fisheries, aquaculture, seafood technology or a social science with a marine studies option. The scholarship must be used for the following freshman year for enrollment in a Florida university or community college. A Sea Grant associated faculty member selects the winning project/student each year at the Science Fair, and a member of the Skoch family presents the award during the awards ceremony.

The awards winners to date are:
   
  An Investment in Florida's Future(pdf) (1 mb)