Student Membership & Chapters

Connect with AIPG Before You Graduate

The American Institute of Professional Geologists represents geoscientists across many specialties and promotes competence, integrity, ethics and service to the public. Students do not have to wait until graduation to become part of that professional community.

AIPG student membership is free for students enrolled in a geoscience degree program. Joining can help you make professional contacts, learn about career paths, participate in student chapters and prepare for the expectations of professional practice.

Join AIPG as a student member →

Student Membership Benefits

Professional contacts: Meet geoscientists working in consulting, industry, government, research and education.
Mentoring: Ask experienced professionals about specialties, graduate school, licensing, employment and career development.
Scholarships: Apply for eligible AIPG-TX and AIPG National undergraduate and graduate scholarships.
Career resources: View job listings, post a resume and learn from professional-development materials.
Meetings and webinars: Attend technical programs and learn about developments across the geosciences.
Field trips: Visit geologic sites, mines, facilities and projects with geoscientists who can explain their professional significance.
Leadership: Help organize chapter activities, communicate with members and represent students within AIPG.
Publishing: Develop technical communication skills and submit suitable articles to The Professional Geologist.

Mentoring

A mentor can help you explore questions that are difficult to answer from a course catalog:

What is daily work really like in the specialty that interests me?
Would a graduate degree improve my options?
How does government work differ from consulting or industry?
What technical and communication skills do employers expect?
How should I prepare for internships, licensing examinations and my first professional position?

AIPG provides a national mentoring program to encourage one-on-one discussions among members. Students can also meet potential mentors through AIPG-TX events, webinars, field trips and chapter activities.

What Is an AIPG Student Chapter?

An AIPG student chapter helps students learn about professionalism before graduation. Chapters can organize guest speakers, workshops, field trips, career discussions, community outreach, technical presentations and meetings with working geoscientists. They also give students practical experience in leadership, teamwork, communication and event planning.

Chapter officers must be AIPG members, and student membership is free. AIPG provides a Student Chapter Manual and national chapter directory.

AIPG Student Chapters and Networks in Texas

Texas Statewide AIPG Student Chapter

The statewide chapter was reformed in 2014 to help bridge the long distances between Texas universities. It gives geoscience students throughout the state a way to connect with AIPG-TX activities and with views into applied geology, geophysics and related professions, including students whose universities do not yet have a campus chapter.

Students interested in participating or helping lead the statewide chapter should contact AIPG-TX.

University of Houston-Downtown

AIPG National lists an active student chapter at the University of Houston-Downtown in Houston, founded in 2019. Students should contact the university’s geoscience program or AIPG-TX for the chapter’s current officers, faculty sponsor and meeting information.

University of Houston-Clear Lake

The University of Houston-Clear Lake Geology Department was granted AIPG student chapter status in August 2026, sponsored by Professor Dongmin Sun. Read the AIPG-TX chapter announcement or contact the department for current participation information.

Is Your University Missing?

Students and faculty at other Texas colleges and universities are encouraged to participate in the statewide chapter or organize a campus chapter. The first steps are to become AIPG student members, identify interested students and faculty support, review AIPG’s Student Chapter Manual and contact AIPG-TX for assistance.

Ask AIPG-TX about joining or starting a student chapter →

Learn Beyond the Classroom

Professional meetings and field trips expose students to real projects, new specialties and the way geoscientists discuss evidence and make decisions. AIPG activities have included visits to outcrops, mines, geologic basins, national parks and industrial facilities, along with technical presentations, short courses and annual meetings.

Continue After Graduation

After earning a geoscience degree, eligible student members can transition to AIPG Early Career Professional membership. ECP membership applies during the first five years after earning a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, and the first calendar year is currently free.

Explore Early Career Professional resources →

In The News

University of Houston-Clear Lake Geology Department Granted Student Chapter Status

President Henry Wise, P.G., C.P.G. announced that University of Houston-Clear Lake Geology Department, sponsored by Professor Dongmin Sun, has been granted Student Chapter Status in the AIPG Texas Section.

AIPG Texas Monthly Webinar Series – Telescopes in Unusual Places – Tuesday, August 18th

AIPG Texas Monthly Webinar Series - Telescopes in Unusual Places - Tuesday, August 18th

AIPG-TX Webinar: Integration of Carbon-14 and Oxygen-18 as a Basis for Differentiating Between Pleistocene and Post-Pleistocene Groundwater Ages Along Flow Paths in West Texas Bolson Aquifers

AIPG Texas Monthly Webinar Series: Integration of Carbon-14 and Oxygen-18 as a Basis for Differentiating Between Pleistocene and Post-Pleistocene Groundwater Ages Along Flow Paths in West Texas Boson Aquifers - June 16, 2026 - Tuesday (Every 3rd Tuesday)

AIPG-TX Webinar: Sustainable Data Center Siting

Join us for our May webinar, "Sustainable Data Center Siting: Using CCUS and Shallow Geothermal to Lower Carbon Emissions and Water Demand," presented by Danny Kingham, Principal Hydrogeologist at GSI Environmental Inc.

AIPG-TX Webinar: Tectonic History, Structural Geology, and Mineral Resources of Hudspeth County, Texas

AIPG Texas Monthly Webinar Series: Tectonic History, Structural Geology, and Mineral Resources of Hudspeth County, Texas

2026 AIPG-TX Section Scholarship Awardees

Henry Wise, P.G., C.P.G., President of the Texas Section of the AIPG, and Dr. Regina Capuano, P.G., C.P.G., Chair, AIPG-TX Scholarships Committee announced recently that: Rohan Khadka, an undergraduate student at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas has been awarded a Ted [...]

AIPG-TX Webinar: Uranium Roll-Front In-Situ Recovery in Sedimentary Basins: Contributing to the Global Uranium Demand for the Nuclear Renaissance (Slides Available)

Abstract Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H., C.P.G., (and Vice-President, AIPG-TX) with the assistance of Henry Wise, P.G., C.P.G., (and President, AIPG-TX) will be discussing how the the construction of nuclear power is expanding rapidly around the world, and with an emphasis [...]

AIPG-TX Webinar – February 17, 2026: Relationship Between East Texas Deltas and South Texas Eagle Ford Unconventional Production at the San Marcos Arc

Abstract Examination of cores from the Sabine Uplift, East Texas Basin, and outcrops and near-surface cores taken by the USGS from the north-central Texas outcrop belt identified four separate siliciclastic depositional systems during the Cenomanian-Turonian. Deposition during the lower Cenomanian Maness [...]