University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Geosciences

Student News
Congratulations go out to Carrie Petrik, she was one of five students awarded an Angelo Tagliacozzo Memorial Geological Scholarship for the 2007-2008 academic year. The NE-AIPG believes that the Angelo Tagliacozzo Memorial Geological Scholarship is one of the few scholarships specifically offered to future geologists by practicing geologists. A total of 14 applicants submitted a complete application package on time and with outstanding qualifications in terms of financial need, academic achievements, outside interests, and career goals. The scholarship committee expended a considerable amount of time evaluating the application packages and the financial needs of the applicants. In the end, the committee was very impressed by the qualifications of the entire group of applicants and the financial need of so many. All 14 applicants also received a complimentary student membership in AIPG (or a membership renewal for the one applicant that was already a member). Membership benefits include receiving a copy of the NE-AIPG quarterly newsletter and a copy of The Professional Geologist, published by AIPG six times a year.
Congratulations to PhD student Celeste Asikainen. Her recent article about her research on ferromanganese nodules in Second Connecticut Lake, New Hampshire resulted in an interview by the UMass Office of News & Information, and can be viewed here. You can take a look at the online abstract and get a link to download a PDF of the article here. She was also interviewed by WFCR, and you can listen to the broadcast here.
Congratulations to PhD student Nicholas Balascio, who has been awarded the J. Hoover Mackin Research Award from the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America for his proposal to study Holocene tsunami deposits in coastal lakes of the Lofoten Islands, Norway. The award supports outstanding Ph.D. student research in Quaternary geology and geomorphology and it will be presented to Mr. Balascio at the Division's awards ceremony during the GSA National Meeting in Denver Colorado on October 30th.
Congratulations to Eric Helfrich who is one of 25 graduating UMass Amherst seniors who has been selected to receive the UMass Amherst Alumni 2007 Senior Leadership Award. He was honored at a special reception in the Student Union Ballroom on April 22, 2007. The Senior Leadership Award was created in 1989 to recognize graduating seniors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who demonstrate outstanding leadership and service to the campus community during their undergraduate careers. Award recipients have distinguished themselves through important contributions to their campus jobs and organizations, excellence within chosen majors and overall public and community service. In addition to active involvement on campus, each student has demonstrated a serious commitment to his or her academic endeavors.	Eric Helfrich with Julie Brigham-Grette after receiving the Alumni Leadership Award.
Congratulations to undergrad, Willi Guerra, who was accepted into an REU program in Tanzania where he will be working on East African lakes with Andy Cohen of the Univ. of Arizona.
PhD student, Scott Marshall and his advisor, Michele Cooke, have published a new model for active fault movement in the Los Angeles area (Geophysical Research Letters, 21 Nov). Their research suggests that several of these faults are moving faster than expected. Read their Coverage in the News: United Press International PhysOrg.com Science Daily Monsters and Critics: Science and Nature Digis News UMass Amherst Press Release UMass Amherst In the Loop Read the paper in Geophysical Research Letters	Fault surfaces in the Los Angeles basin. (red=shallow)
James Bradbury, who recently received his PhD in Geosciences, is working as a Congressional Fellow of the American Meterological Society. He is in Congressman Jay Inslee's (D-WA-1st district) who has a national-scale focus on Energy and Environment and is assigned to the Energy and Commerce and Resources Committees. Read more about the program.	James Bradbury
Alan Marcus received two national awards for best PhD dissertation in Cultural Geography and in Ethnic Geography at the AAG conference held on April 15 - 19 in Boston. He also accepted a position as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Geography at Towson University, starting August 2008. He recently completed his doctoral research in Atlanta, Georgia, on Brazilian transnational migration processes. He was one of 20 graduate students from the US selected to participate at Harvard University's two-day “Embracing Diversity: Latino Immigration and the Transformation of American Society” Conference, and the only geographer seclected to participate. In October, he spoke to the Geography and Anthropology departments at Georgia State University and in December, he will share his results at various presentations at USP, the Universidade de Sao Paulo, and UNESP, Universidade Estadual de Sao Paulo. Alan was Featured in the UMass Talking Points portion of the University website on January 23rd. In May, Alan received The Latin American Studies Pre-Dissertation Grant Award from UMass Amherst. His current research focuses on a comparative study on Brazilian immigration to Atlanta, GA, and Framingham, MA. He will travel to the states of Goias and Minas Gerais in December, 2006, to conduct preliminary research on place of origin of Brazilian immigrants.	Atlanta-Rio de Janeiro Sister City Committee Meeting, Mayor’s Office. Atlanta City Hall, Georgia (Wilma Kruger, Chair, and Alan Marcus)
Beth Caissie was recently awarded the Geological Society of America's Quaternary Division Howard Award for her MSc research looking at past sea-ice extent in the Bering Sea.	Beth Caissie collects sea-ice diatoms in the Bering Sea, May 2006.
Ph.D. candidate (Geography) Brian Conz, has been awarded a Fulbright- Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship from the U.S. Dept. of Education for political ecology fieldwork in Guatemala. Brian will carry out 6 months of fieldwork on indigenous peoples, conservation, and protected areas in the Ki’che Mayan highlands of Guatemala. His dissertation is tentatively titled: “Re-territorializing the Maya Commons: Mapping Conservation Complexities in Totonicapan, Guatemala. This Fulbright dissertation research award is a first for a department graduate student. The DDRA program awards 150 grants in the social sciences and humanities per year.	Brian Conz in Guatamala.
• PhD candidate, George Roberson, presented a paper at the “Voices of Tangier Conference” held in Tangier, Morocco. Read more about it.	George Roberson in Tangier
Senior geosciences student Luke Trusel spent three and a half weeks during the summer of 2005 conducting research in the Norwegian arctic with Professor Julie Brigham-Grette. View the full report on the UMass Amherst News Page	Luke Trusel in Svalbard

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