Awards
October 13, 2016
Common Abbreviations:
AAPG American Association of Petroleum Geologists
ACM Association for Computing Machinery
AGS Austin Geological Society
AGU American Geophysical Union
AIPG American Institute of Professional Geologists
BEG Bureau of Economic Geology
DGS Dept. of Geological Sciences
GCAGS Gulf Coast Association Geological Society
GSA Geological Society of America
GSEC Graduate Student Executive Committee
SEG Society of Exploration Geophysicists
SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology
UTIG Institute for Geophysics
Faculty and Researchers
JAY BANNER
Kappe Lecturer, AAEES
JAIME BARNES
Knebel Outstanding Teaching Award, undergraduate course, DGS
THORSTEN BECKER
2015 Fellow, AGU
WHITNEY BEHR
CAREER Grant, NSF
Young Scientist Award
(Donath Medal), GSA
Jason Morgan Early Career Award, AGU
Knebel Outstanding Teaching Award,
graduate course, DGS
Faculty Annual Evaluation Award
(Assistant Professor Level), DGS
CHRIS BELL
Knebel Outstanding Teaching Award,
introductory course, DGS
TIMOTHY BARTHOLOMAUS
Outstanding Young Researcher, UTIG
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
DON BLANKENSHIP
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
BAYANI CARDENAS
Faculty Annual Evaluation Award
(Associate Professor Level), DGS
ELIZABETH CATLOS
Outstanding Reviewer, Earth and
Planetary Science Letters – Elsevier
DALLAS DUNLAP
Distinguished Service Award, GCAGS
NICHOLAS DYGERT
Dissertation Prize, Sigma Xi, Brown Chapter
PETER EICHHUBL
Runner-up, Tinker Family BEG
Publication Award
ANDRAS FALL
Runner-up, Tinker Family BEG
Publication Award
WILLIAM FISHER
AAPG Foundation Chairman’s Award
PETER FLEMINGS
Tinker Family BEG Publication Award
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
SERGEY FOMEL
Honorable Mention, Best Poster, SEG
CLIFF FROHLICH
Career Research Award, UTIG
JULIA GALE
Runner-up, Tinker Family BEG
Publication Award
OMAR GHATTAS
Gordon Bell Prize, ACM
SEAN GULICK
Signature Course Essential Elements
Award for Excellence in Teaching Oral
Communication
Jackson School Outstanding
Researcher Award
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
PETER HENNINGS
Distinguished Service Award, AAPG
MARC HESSE
Outstanding Research Award, JSG
MICHAEL HUDEC
Tinker Family BEG Publication Award
RICHARD KETCHAM
Joseph C. Walter Jr. Excellence Award, JSG
J. RICHARD KYLE
Best Poster Award, GSA Energy Division
STEPHEN LAUBACH
Fellow, GSA
Distinguished Service Award, AAPG
A Peer Apart, Distinguished Service in
Technical Editing, SPE
Award of Appreciation, Outstanding
Technical Editor, SPE
Runner-up, Tinker Family BEG
Publication Award
JOSEPH LEVY
NASA Early Career Fellow
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
DAVID MOHRIG
2016 AGU Fellow
Faculty Annual Evaluation Award
(Full Professor Level), DGS
SHARON MOSHER
Alumni Achievement Award, University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MARIA-AIKATERINI NIKOLINAKOU
Tinker Family BEG Publication Award
STEPHEN PHILLIPS
Post-Expedition Activity Award,
Expedition 353-IODP-U.S. Science
Support Program
SUZANNE PIERCE
NAKFI Fellow/Selected Participant,
Keck Foundation and the National
Academy of Sciences
ERIC POTTER
Outstanding Service Award, JSG
BRIDGET SCANLON
Elected to National Academy of Engineering
MRINAL SEN
Outstanding Educator Award, JSG
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
KRISTA SODERLUND
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
RONALD STEEL
Twenhofel Medalist, SEP
DANIEL STOCKLI
Fellow, GSA
SCOTT TINKER
Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding
Leadership Award, AAPG
Honorary Member Award, AAPG
Don R. Boyd Medal, GCAGS
LUCA TREVISAN
Career Development Publication
Award, BEG
LAURA WALLACE
Director’s Circle of Excellence, UTIG
XINMING WU
Chevron Scholarship, SEG
Thomas A. Mazza Memorial
Scholarship, SEG
MICHAEL YOUNG
Fellow, GSA
Promotions
JULIA CLARKE
Professor
BAYANI CARDENAS
Professor
QILONG FU
Research Associate to Research
Scientist (BEG)
JULIA GALE
Research Scientist to Senior Research
Scientist (BEG)
MARC HESSE
Associate Professor with tenure
SEYYED HOSSEINI
Research Associate to Research
Scientist (BEG)
SVETLANA IKONNIKOVA
Research Associate to Research
Scientist (BEG)
JIEMIN LU
Research Associate to Research
Scientist (BEG)
Students
KIMBERLY AGUILERA
Best Undergraduate Student Poster, GSA
DANNY ANDERSON
Folk/McBride Petrography Contest,
2nd Undergraduate
HECTOR ARREOLA
AIPN Student Outreach Program
CHRISTIAN BAKER
Austin Geological Society Field
Geology Scholarship
CHRISTIAN BLACK
Folk/McBride Petrology Contest,
1st Undergraduate
EMILIE BOWMAN
National Undergraduate Scholarship, AIPG
OWEN CALLAHAN
Outstanding TA, DGS
MIGUEL CISNEROS
Folk/McBride Petrology Contest,
1st Graduate
LAURA DAFOV
Intellectual Entrepreneurship
Citizen Scholar
KRISTOPHER DARNELL
Best Paper Published by a JSG Graduate
Student, JSG
Whitney Endowed Presidential
Scholarship, UT Austin
BUD DAVIS
Student Service Award, GSEC
SARAH GEORGE
Gordon I. Atwater Memorial Grant, AAPG
Graduate Student Research Grant, SEPM
Ronald K. DeFord Field Scholarship, JSG
Early Career Graduate Best Poster
Award, Jackson School Symposium
KIM GILBERT
Technical Sessions Best Speaker, Fall,
Ph.D., DGS
PETER GOLD
Outstanding TA, DGS
KEALIE GOODWIN
Outstanding TA
CHAD GREENE
Outstanding Graduate Student Award, UTIG
National Science Foundation Young
Investigator Travel Funding
Mathworks (Matlab) Award for
Outstanding Contributions
MENAL GUPTA
Marshall Endowed Presidential
Scholarship, 2015
Anadarko/SEG scholarship, 2016
ROMY HANNA
Second Place Poster Presentation, Late Career Ph.D., JSG
Vargas Endowed Presidential
Scholarship, JSG
Pellas-Ryder Award for Best Student
Paper in Planetary Sciences, Joint Award
from Meteoritical Society and GSA
Planetary Geology Division
EMMA HEITMANN
Groundwater Field Methods Award,
Undergraduate, DGS
WOONG MO KOO
Duchin Endowed Presidential
Scholarship for 2015-2016
JOHN LI
Edward C. and Caroline Beaumont
Named Grant, AAPG
JOSHUA LIVELY
University Graduate Continuing
Fellowship, 2016-17, UT Austin
Texas Academy of Science Ph.D. Student
Research Grant
Ronald K. DeFord Field Scholarship
Fund, JSG
Lundelius Award in Vertebrate
Paleontology, JSG
ASHLYN MURPHY
R.E. McAdams Memorial Grant, AAPG
Graduate Student Research Grant, GSA
CASEY O’BRIEN
Technical Sessions Best Speaker,
Spring, M.S., DGS
MIKE O’CONNOR
Outstanding TA
ANASTASIA PILIOURAS
Graduate Student and Early Career
Travel Grant, Sediment Experimentalists
Network, 2015
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship,
United States Geological Survey, 2016
National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2016
EDGARDO PUJOLS
Folk/McBride Petrology Contest,
2nd Graduate, DGS
ENRICA QUARTINI
Oustanding Graduate Student Award, UTIG
NATALIE RAIA
Houston Geological Society Scholarship
EVAN RAMOS
ExxonMobil/GSA Student
Geoscience Grant
RACHEL RUTHVEN
Estwing Hammer, DGS
JULIANA SPECTOR
Graduate Student Research Grant, GSA
KELLY THOMSON
Statoil Graduate Student Fellowship
XINYUE (DENNIS) TONG
Outstanding Graduate Student
Award, UTIG
KELSI USTIPAK
Technical Sessions Best Speaker,
Fall, M.S., DGS
MADELEINE VADEBONCOEUR
Austin Geological Society Field
Geology Scholarship
RAHUL VERMA
James W. McGrew Award
BENJAMIN WAGMAN
Gale White Fellowship, UTIG
NAPAT WANPIYARAT
Mineralogical Society of America
Undergraduate Prize
JOHN WARDEN
Technical Sessions Best Speaker,
Spring, Ph.D., DGS
ANNA WEISS
David Worthington Named Grant, AAPG
Muehlberger Field Scholarship, JSG
Lerner-Gray Memorial Fund, American
Museum of Natural History, 2016
ZHIGUANG XUE
Best Student Poster Paper Award, SEG
Statoil Graduate Fellowship
Staff
NICOLE EVANS
Guion Library Staff Honors, DGS
TESSA GREEN
Picard Excellence Award, UTIG
PHILIP GUERRERO
Outstanding Graduate Coordinator,
Graduate School
SCOTT KEMPF
Outstanding Support Staff, UTIG
KIMBERLY MILLER
Geoscience Information Society Best
Paper Award
GREG NG
Outstanding Support Staff, UTIG
JUDY SANSOM
Outstanding Support Staff, UTIG
PATRICK STAFFORD
Staff Excellence Award, DGS
DEAN WILCOX
Guion Library Staff Honors, DGS
Staff Excellence Award, JSG