What do a tiny nation off the coast of West Africa, a plastics pollution problem in Pittsburgh, and the indigenous Iñupiat people of Alaska all have in common?
What do a tiny nation off the coast of West Africa, a plastics pollution problem in Pittsburgh, and the indigenous Iñupiat people of Alaska all have in common?
Earl “Skip” Lenker is passionate about lifelong learning. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1956 and earning his doctorate in geosciences from Penn State in 1964, the lifelong educational journey continued.
Understanding how climate change will affect the flooding of rivers may become easier with a new framework for assessing flood risk that's been developed by an interdisciplinary team from Penn State.
Susan Brantley
Derek Elsworth
Brad Foley
Katherine Freeman
Tanya Furman
Elizabeth Hajek
Kimberly Lau
Jennifer Macalady
Michael Mann
Andrew Smye
Christelle Wauthier
Timothy White
John (Jack) Crook ’81 Crook retired as senior vice president of Diversifed Gas & Oil. He was an Earth Sciences major and is now enjoying retirement, camping and golf.
Daniel Hummer ’10 Hummer is currently a professor of geology at Southern Illinois University. He recently assisted in designing a permanent exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York showing the evolution of minerals from the big bang to the present.
Kent Newsham ’78 Newsham was selected to be in the inaugural class of fellows at Occidental. His new title is Oxy Fellow, Worldwide Chief Petrophysicist. He is also on the Technical Advisory Board and the Technical Reserves Review team.
George Veni ’94 Veni is the executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and president of the International Union of Speleology (UIS), which functions as the United Nations of countries conducting cave exploration and science. He is currently engaged deeply in the biggest cave and karst project ever: the International Year of Caves and Karst. This is a global effort to reach and teach people about the many values of caves and karst that everyone benefits from, and it is being organized by the UIS.
Alumni Passings
Note: This list is the compilation of contributiins received between July 1, 2020 thru June 30, 2021
Carl F. Aquino - EMS Graduate Fellows for Science Advocacy and Diversity (EMS-GFSAD)
Adam Benfield - LacCore Visiting Graduate Student Program • R. J. Cuffey Fund for Paleontology
Julia Carr - George H. K. Schenck Teaching Assistant
Fai Chanchai - On to the Future Award (GSA)
Si Chen - Mineralogical Society of America Grant in Crystallography from the Edward H. Kraus Crystallographic Research Fund
Katie Horisk - Honorable Mention NSF Graduate Research Fellowship • Elsevier Organic Geochemistry Research Scholarship
Kirsty Mckenzie - Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) at AGU 2021
Sierra Melton - First Place in the Physical Sciences and Mathematics category of the Penn State Graduate Exhibition 2021 • NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Fellowship
Esther Munoz - Nominated for the Sloan Fellowship • president of the Penn State Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), which received the 2021 Outstanding Marketing award from Penn State’s Student Affairs.
Karen Pham - Fulbright Research Grant (Oslo, Norway)
Garrett Shepherd - Marathon Alumni Centennial Graduate Fellowship • Shell Geosciences Energy Research Facilitation Award • Paleontological Society Stephen Jay Gould Student Research Award
Kirsten Stephens - Penn State ICDS Virtual Symposium 2020, 1st place Virtual Poster, Fall 2020 • vVMSG Annual Meeting 2021, 2nd place Talk presentation, Spring 2021
Alley Family Graduate Scholarship: Kathleen Grosswiler, Sierra Melton
Chevron Scholarship: Benjamin Barnes, Charlotte Connop, Chanel Deane
The Michael Loudin Family Graduate Scholarship in Geosciences: Claire Cleveland, Copeland Cromwell, Victor Garcia, Judit Gonzalez Santana, Kaitlyn Horisk, Sofia Johnson
Krynine Memorial Award: Raphael Affinito, Shelby Bowden, Watsawan Chanchai, Si Chen, Dongyoun Chung, Charlotte Connop, Kaelie Contreras, Chanel Deane, Michael Forgeng, Victor Garcia, Kathleen Grosswiler, Gabriella Harris, Emma Hartke, Machel Higgins, Kayla Irizarry, Ian Lee, Zi Xian Leong, Sierra Melton, Hailey Mundell, Youki Sato, Emily Schwans, Samuel Shaheen, Andrew Shaughnessy, Garrett Shepherd, Alexander Thames
Hiroshi and Koya Ohmoto Graduate Fellowship: Watsawan Chanchai, Kathleen Grosswiler, Kayla Irizarry, Hanna Leapaldt
Marathon Alumni Centennial Graduate Fellowship: Youki Sato, Garrett Shepherd
Richard R. Parizek Graduate Fellowship: Adam Benfield, Julia Carr, Samuel Shaheen
Scholten-Williams-Wright Scholarship in Field Geology: Charlotte Connop
Shell Geoscience Energy Research Facilitation Award: Raphael Affinito, Benjamin Barnes, Shelby Bowden, Troy Ferland, Youki Sato, Junzhu Shen, Garrett Shepherd
Richard Standish Good Graduate Scholarship: Claire Webster
Donald B. and Mary E. Tait Scholarship in Microbial Biogeochemistry: Hanna Leapaldt, Samuel Shaheen, Claire Webster
Barry Voight Endowment: Shelby Bowden
Thomas F. Bates Undergraduate Research Enhancement Fund: Sarah Lehman
Joseph Berg Award for Undergraduate Research in Geosciences: Olivia Budnovitch, Emmy Gardner, Joshua Karas, Arnav Lund, Angelina Santamaria, Faith Wotorson
Barton P. Cahir Award: Maya Kita
Frank Dachille Memorial Award in Geochemistry: Asala Al-Wadhahi, Yurik McCray
David M. Demshur Undergraduate Research Endowment: Abra Gold, Ryan Kratzinger
Edwin L. Drake Memorial Scholarship: Dana Bloomfield, Cameron Brown, Michelle Burns, Austin Dilla, Raquel Ellis, Ryan Kindelberger, Qianyi Lu, Oliver Marra, Kelly O’Donnell, Eddie Spagnuolo, Nichloas Walter, Matt Wileyto, Aimee Zimmerman, Elliot Zou
General Scholarship Endowment in Geosciences: Devon Chenot, Timothy Kuklis, Ethan Lionetti, Garrett Paley, Victoria Paul, Zachary Taylor, Amanda Urist
David P. “Duff” Gold Undergraduate Scholarship Fund: Bradly Crouthamel, David Early, Eric Kratzinger, Kenneth Wasiulewski
John C. and Nancy Griffiths Scholarship: Neel Bishop, Emma Cox, Kathleen McGowan, Ali Wicks
James and Nancy Hedberg Scholarship: Thomas Baney, Amanda Bassett, Samuel Dikeumunna, Matthew Felici, Caroline Newman, Isabella Plotkin, Hunter Reeves, Edward Spagnuolo, Megan Vinella
Arthur P. Honess Memorial Fund: Renan Beckman, Halina Dingo, Gabriel Felker, Logan Fowler, Robert Hull, Thomas Lutz, Madeline Murtaugh, Ryan Orlowski, Sarah Perez, Sunday Siomades
Benjamin F. Howell, Jr., Award: Hannah Luckenbaugh, Margaret Maenner, Molly McHale, Luke Stoey, Allysa Temple
Kappmeyer-Isaacs Field Camp Award: Sarah Lehman, Ryan Kratzinger, Molly Mchale
Ronald A. Landon Endowment in Hydrogeology: Cassandra Barcz, Katerina Wood
Maureen and Dennis Maiorino Undergraduate Scholarship: Courtney Aubain, Anna Lee, Jacob Manion, Kacper Orpik, Alysha Ulrich, Riley Wian
Timothy and Cindy Mullen Scholarship in Geosciences: Abdulaziz Almansour, Joe Barbusca, Robin Carbaugh, Ryan Orlowski
Perez Family Undergraduate Scholarship: Raquel Ellis
Reif Undergraduate Summer Field Camp Endowment: Cissy Ming, Nancy Weinheimer
Rober F. Schmalz Award: Sarah Davis, Riley Foster, Eathan Gottshall, Jiahao Guo, Jacob Irwin, Justin McGowan, Hrishi Mohan, Riley Paul-Cook, Connor Russell, Seamus Smith
Julie and Trem Smith Family Undergraduate Scholarship: Raquel Ellis
Daniel and Deborah Stephens First-Time Endowed Scholarship: Sabrina Blacklock, Tom Delaney, Audrey Gonzalez, Kurt McAuliffe, Emma Rose, Samantha Rowe, Ben Smith
John and Elizabeth Holmes Teas Scholarship Fund: Cameron Brown, Taylor Rosen, Emma Stolinas
Dr. David E. W. Vaughan and Mrs. Julianne S. Vaughan Field Camp Fund: Cassandra Barcz, Gabby Mengen, Taylor Rosen
Tim and Courtney Watson Undergraduate Scolarship: Raquel Ellis