The annual Geography Graduate Awards were announced on June 1, following the last colloquium of the 2006-2007 year (presented by Tom Dunne, Professor of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management: “Floodplain Sedimentation Processes in the Amazon Basin”), A reception in the Ellison Hall courtyard was held for the recipients of The Leal Ann Kerry Mertes Scholarship Awards, The Geography Excellence in Teaching Award, and The Jack and Laura Dangermond Graduate Fellowship Award. Professor Stuart Sweeney presented the awards, and carrot cake, brownies, fresh fruit, and coffee were served afterwards, thanks to the efforts of staffers Laura Harrison and Bernadette Weinberg and undergraduate work study assistants Devon Kelly and Derrick Tyler. In attendance were James Wells (Leal Mertes’ husband), Sharon Mertes (Leal’s mom), and Melinda Glasgow, Director of Development for Science and Engineering.
The Leal Anne Kerry Mertes ScholarshipsThis fund was established to honor Leal Mertes by supporting UCSB students (graduate or undergraduate) who are planning or are engaged in field research. The Leal Anne Kerry Mertes Scholarship is awarded to talented and deserving UCSB students enrolled in any UCSB department where fieldwork in natural science is conducted. For the purposes of this scholarship, “field work” is defined as any off-campus activity devoted to studying, observing, sampling, investigating or measuring natural or human phenomena. The fund supports both the scholarships and the expenses associated with the awarding of these scholarships.
Geography graduate student Amy Lerner (left) won a scholarship for her research proposal, The impact of urbanization and global food policy on the future of maize livelihoods and land-cover in the Toluca de Lerdo Valley, Mexico.
Undergraduate Geography major Mary K. Donovan (right) won a scholarship for her research proposal, Coral Reef Structure Across a Human Impact Gradient: The role of biodiversity and the implications for human welfare.
Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology student Natalie Doerr (picture not available) also received a Mertes Scholarship for her research proposal, Do male great bowerbirds minimize the costs associated with acquiring bower decorations by re-using decorations acquired in previous breeding seasons?
Meri Marsh (left) received the annual Department of Geography Excellence in Teaching Award. This award is presented to Geography graduate students who are making satisfactory progress toward their degrees and who have outstanding course evaluations as TAs and/or instructors, outstanding written comments from students, outstanding evaluations of TA work by the course instructor, and outstanding design of course or lab syllabi or outstanding design of lab or section activities
The JACK AND LAURA DANGERMOND FELLOWSHIP was won by graduate student John Alan Glennon. The Fellowship is awarded to a promising graduate geography student in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the department of Geography. The recipient will hold the title “The Jack and Laura Dangermond Fellow” in residence and receives a stipend, allowing its holder to devote more time to imaginative and creative research. Jack and Laura Dangermond are the co-founders and President and Executive Vice President respectively of ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute). ESRI is a major industrial supplier of software in the field of GIS; Jack Dangermond currently serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) at UCSB.
