Our Ben Bohl Scholarships

Here at IFS we are committed to increasing accessibility to marine science education for local Bahamians and US students. To see this committment through, we created the Dr. Walter ‘Ben’ Bohl Scholarship fund which directly supports both local and international students ability to attend field study experiences at Forfar Field Station. The scholarship was established to honor the many years Ben spent working for International Field Studies as the co-founder and Executive Director of IFS from 1970-2015.

Since 2020, we have been able to award $22,210 in scholarship funds and discounts to 24 students who otherwise would not have had access to our programs. Offering these students the life changing experience of spending a week at Forfar with their school or attending our Forfar Marine Science Gap Year Program is possible because of the generous support of our donors.

Highlights from our Scholarship Recipients

“Before the FMSP, I'd never been away from my family for more than 4 days. Now, I can't possibly imagine a world where I didn't go to Forfar -- I have to say it's one of the best experiences of my life to date.”

“My experiences at Forfar opened my eyes to what’s going on in our oceans and our environments . Learning and interacting with nature made me want to take saving the planet more seriously .”

“I want to thank you and the donors for granting me the scholarship money so that I could join in on this amazing and once in a lifetime experience. I had a wonderful time and was able to use what I learned during the lecture times in my competition piece (about ocean pollution) for school. I will forever hold the memories and the friendships that I made on this trip. Thank you again for helping me go on this trip!”

“During my six weeks I was able to gain more hands-on experience and knowledge about marine life, conservation and ecotourism. Being a marine student this experience will totally benefit me in the future. I am more than grateful that I was able to participate in this program!!”

“I worked 25+ hours a week all spring semester, so I cannot emphasize enough how much this scholarship meant to me and my family. In addition to that, my 6 weeks at Forfar were nothing short of amazing. Long term, I would like to work in marine animal rehabilitation and conservation education, so the FMSP gave me more insight into marine science that'll benefit my career, all while exploring both the land and water of Andros.”