2018-2019 Department of Geography Award Recipients and Department Chair, Professor Stuart Sweeney
On Thursday, May 30, 2019 the Department of Geography held their 2018-2019 Annual Awards Colloquium. Following is a list of awards given out by the Department Chair, Professor Stuart Sweeney.
Graduate Student Awards
The Department of Geography Excellence in Teaching Award is given to a graduate student who has an outstanding teaching and teaching assistant track record, in terms of both quality and quantity. This award is given annually to a graduate student who has a record of receiving outstanding course evaluations, outstanding written comments from students, outstanding evaluations of their teaching assistant work by the course instructor, and/or outstanding design of course, section, or lab syllabi or activities. This year’s award, including a $500 prize, goes to Sara Lafia.
Sara Lafia – Excellence in Teaching
The Department of Geography Excellence in Research award goes to a graduate student who has an outstanding research track record, in terms of both quality and quantity. The award is given annually to a graduate student who has a record of outstanding national and international conference presentations, publications, and/or lab or field studies. This year’s award, including a $500 prize, goes to Xin Feng.
Xin Feng – Excellence in Research
The Department of Geography Leal Anne Kerry Mertes Scholarship award was established to award a scholar in natural or social sciences for conducting outstanding field research. The scholarship supports undergraduate or graduate students at UCSB who are planning or are engaged in scientific field research. The scholarship is awarded to talented and deserving students enrolled in any UCSB department where fieldwork is an integral component of research training. For the purpose of this scholarship, “field work” is defined as studying, sampling, observing, and/or measuring natural or human phenomena in the environments in which they normally exist. The funds support both the scholarly activities and expenses associated with the fieldwork (for example: stipends, travel expenses, research supplies, and research preparation costs). This year, the Leal Anne Kerry Mertes Scholarship, in the amount of $2,024.24, goes to Terra Dressler from the The Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology (EEMB).
Terra Dressler – Leal Anne Kerry Mertes Scholarship
The Department of Geography Jack and Laura Dangermond Graduate Fellowship Award is awarded to an outstanding graduate student in Geography studying within the area of Geographic Information Science (GIS). The recipient will hold the title “Jack and Laura Dangermond Fellow” in residence for 2018-2019 and will receive a stipend of $5,000, 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 Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). ESRI is a major industrial supplier of software in the field of GIS. This years recipient of the Jack and Laura Dangermond Graduate Fellowship, including a $5,000 award goes to Mike Johnson.
Mike Johnson – Jack and Laura Dangermond Graduate Fellowship Award
Undergraduate Student Awards
The Department of Geography Jack and Laura Dangermond Undergraduate Fellowship Award – Jack and Laura Dangermond have also established a fellowship award for a promising undergraduate geography student enrolled in the Geography BA with an emphasis in Geographic Information Science. This year’s outstanding student in Geographic Information Science and recipient of the Dangermond Fellowship, including a $2,000 stipend, goes to Shupeng Wang.
Shupeng Wang – Jack and Laura Dangermond Undergraduate Fellowship Award
The Akella Family Scholarship – was established to support undergraduate students based on compelling family/personal circumstances and academic achievement. Highest consideration is given to students who have unique and challenging obligations, such as re-entry/non-traditional students, extended family responsibilities, etc. This year’s recipient of the Akella Family Scholarship, including a $1,000 prize, goes to Kimberly Fuentes-Carrillo.
Kimberly Fuentes-Carrillo – Akella Family Scholarship
The Nicholas Bourdakis Memorial Award – The Bourdakis Fund was established after the tragic death of Nicolas in February 2001, who was struck by a car while walking in Isla Vista. He had just declared Geography as his major. The award is given to the student most recently having declared Geography, with the highest GPA. This fund helps keep Nick’s memory alive by supporting future generations of outstanding undergraduate Geography students at UCSB. This year’s award, including a $1,000 prize, goes to Dian Xia.
Dian Xia – Nicholas Bourdakis Memorial Award
The Chair’s Award for Excellence in the Geography Major – this award goes to the graduating senior who has majored in Geography and has the highest cumulative GPA. The student who has earned this award has a 3.93 cumulative GPA at UCSB, and a 4.0 in the upper division Geography major classes. This year’s award, including a $200 prize, goes to Lauren Enright.
Lauren Enright – Chair’s Award for Excellence in the Geography Major
Following the Awards Ceremony Dr. Noah J. Finnegan, an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, gave a talk titled, “Sediment Supply and Channel Formation in the Actively Uplifting Coast Ranges of the Western U.S.”
Dr. Noah J. Finnegan
Congratulations to all those receiving awards this year!
