Congratulations to 10th Annual Student Research Symposium Winners

March 8, 2021

Jackson School Community,

Thank you to everyone who took part in the 10th Annual Student Research Symposium on Saturday. It was exciting to learn first-hand about the breadth of research that Jackson School students are conducting at every level. It was also encouraging to see that discovery continued and research remained strong despite the challenges of the past year.

I also want to express my gratitude to the judges who volunteered their time and provided feedback to our presenters, and to our Graduate Student Executive Committee (GSEC) who organized the symposium. This event would not have been possible without your dedication.

The symposium winners are listed below. Please join me in congratulating them for a job well done!

Hook ‘Em!

Claudia Mora, Dean

10th Annual Student Research Symposium Winners 

High School students

1^st place: Miguel Liu-Schiaffini

Title: Automated Identification of Ice Sheet Surface and Bed Interfaces Using Deep Learning

2^nd place – tie : Lochana Kalyanaraman and Enrique Morales 

Title: Analyzing Earth’s Processes for Space Exploration: Carrying our Knowledge of Life Beyond Earth

Title: Planet Terra

Undergraduates

1^st place: Carole Lakrout

Title: Life Mediated Mineral Deposits in Caves

2^nd place: Reem Alomar

Title: Estimating the triangular smoothing radius using the Gauss-Newton method

Honorable mention: Katherine Faulkner

Title: Categorizing Variations of Phanerozoic Foraminifera Mineralogy

Early Career Graduate

1^st place: Michelle Tebolt

Title: Investigating the depositional environment of sedimentary fan features on Mars using orbital stratigraphy

2^nd place: Emily Bamber

Title: How did Mars’ crater paleolakes form? Insights from Geomorphology

Honorable mention: Ethan Conrad

Title: Cenozoic Evolution of the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary: Insights from Thermochronometric, Kinematic and Geomorphic Data

Late Career Masters

1^st place: Leland Spangler

Title: Timing and Controls on late Paleozoic Tectonism and Synorogenic Sedimentation, Bursum Formation, Sacramento Mountains, NM

2^nd place: Joseph Syzdek

Title: Mechanical Stratigraphic Control on Deformation in a Fault-Propagation Fold, Gobbler Anticline, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Honorable mention: Bethany Rysak

Title: Analysis of Hydraulic Fracture Growth and Segmentation: Implications of Observations From the HFTS1 Slant Core, Wolfcamp Fm., Midland Basin, West Texas

Late Career PhD

1^st place: Paul Morris

Title: Sinuous Deep-Water Channel Systems: Curvature Driven Evolution Drives Autogenic Aggradation Processes – Example from Eastern Gulf of Mexico

2^nd place: Kwun Yip Fung

Title: Testing different dataset and machine learning methods accuracy in producing the Austin Local Climate Zone map

Honorable mention: Grace Beaudoin

Title: The evolution of the halogen budget in ophiolites from the Western Alps

Best Represented Research Group

1^st place: Timothy Goudge’s group

2^nd place: Daniel Stockli’s group

Figure Competition  

1^st place: Eirini Poulaki  – Thin sections from S. Spain-Oil painting on Canvas
2^nd place:  Rawan Alasad – Flow transformations in subaerial and subaqueous debris flows
3^rd place: Brandon Shuck- Subduction initiation is a four dimensional process
3^rd place: Cole Speed -A river through time
3^rd place: Emily Bamber – Mechanisms of forming fluvial valleys into craters on Mars
3^rd place: Ethan Conrad – Hypothesis for the Cenozoic evolution of the Northern Caribbean plate boundary
3^rd place: Grace Beaudoin-Halogen geochemical cycling
3^rd place: Samuel Robbins – Red sea rift model