"We are proud to recognize what our students have learned in their studies, knowledge that spans our Earth - from the core to the surface, our environment - including the oceans, atmosphere, and ever changing climate, and also those mysterious worlds far beyond our own planet. Importantly, our students have developed an understanding of the broader SYSTEM that consists of many distinct parts that interact in complex but also fascinating ways. And this gives them the essential knowledge and skills to address the challenges of the future, whatever they may be."
- Julia Morgan, Chair of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
EEPS graduation ceremonies and celebrations, held on May 3rd, recognize the achievements of faculty, staff and students, and especially, the graduating class of 2024.
Faculty Honors
Fenglin Niu, professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world's largest Earth and space sciences association. Niu was recognized for his contributions in seismology, specifically for leading-edge high resolution seismic imaging of Earth from the crust to the core.
Mark Torres, assistant professor EEPS, has been awarded an NSF CAREER Grant to examine river water chemistry to understand the implications for addressing environmental concerns. These highly competitive NSF grants are awarded to early career faculty engaged in groundbreaking research, outreach and education.
Cin-Ty Lee, the Harry Carothers Wiess Professor of Geology, is the 2023 recipient of the Houston Audubon Kathrine G. McGovern Urban Conservation Award. The honor is bestowed in recognition of his significant bird conservation efforts, including work done on Rice campus to monitor migratory birds through recordings of their nocturnal calls.
Sylvia Dee received the 2024 Provost's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Achievement.
This award recognizes faculty members within 10 years of their initial faculty appointment who have made significant contributions in research, scholarship and/or creative works. Sylvia Dee also received the 2024 Natural Sciences Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award for her commitment in mentoring students of all ages, and being an outstanding role model to her graduate students.
Kirsten Siebach received an Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) at Rice.
Staff Awards
Meagan McKellar received the 2024 Natural Sciences Outstanding Staff Service Award in recognition for her creative and effective contributions to student life in EEPS and beyond, and her amazing work on behalf of the department, school and university.
Graduating Students
EEPS Bachelor of Science degree graduates:
Astra Burke, Lillian Cui, Valentina Osorio
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with Earth Science Concentration:
Marlo Wilcox, Bikram Singh
Among our undergraduates, two completed EEPS honors research, earning Distinction in Research and Creative Works:
Valentina Osorio worked in EEPS and Chemistry with faculty advisor Dr. Mark Torres on a thesis titled "Rainy with a Chance of Sea Salt: Sourcing the Sulfur in Houston’s Rainfall". Valentina will continue her studies at CU Boulder to earn a PhD in Analytical, Environmental and Atmospheric Chemistry.
Marlo Wilcox was advised by Dr. Kirsten Siebach on a thesis titled "Vikings, Volcanoes, and Satellites: An Analysis of Icelandic NDVI Trends and the Problem of Scale in Vegetation Remote Sensing". Marlo will be continuing this area of research during the summer in northern Sweden, collecting drone imagery of a thawing permafrost peatland and using it to leverage surface and subsurface ground measurements.
EEPS Master of Science:
Emory Mckenzie graduated in December 2023 and is a Development Geologist at Chevron.
Advisor: Dr. Melodie French
Thesis: Diagentic Controls on Fault Zone Structure along the Sestola-Vidiciatico unit, an Analogue for the Shallow Subduction Megathrust
Maria Rodriguez
Advisor: Rajdeep Dasgupta
Thesis: Differentiation of a CO2-rich, Hydrous Alkalic Basalt and Genesis of Carbonatites
Bing Yuan graduated in August of 2023.
Advisor: Laurence Yeung
Thesis: Oxygen Isotopes Fractionation during Plant Photosynthesis at Different Light Intensities
EEPS Doctor of Philosophy:
Sydney Allen graduated in August of 2023 and is working at U.S. Geological Survey as a Physical Scientist at the National Minerals Information Center.
Advisor: Cin-Ty Lee
Thesis: Igneous Lifecycles: Geochemistry of Magma from Mantle to Surface & Back Again
Ben Belzer graduated in December of 2023 and plans to use his expertise in geomechanics to work in the energy transition sector.
Advisor: Melodie French
Thesis: Fluid-Mediated Slip of Shallow Subduction Thrust Faults
Jackson Borchardt graduated in December of 2023 and is working at the USGS in Colorado as a research geologist.
Advisor: Cin-Ty Lee
Thesis: Petrologic Controls on the temperature & Volatile Evolution of Magmas
Yi Hou moves on to a post-doc at ETH Zurich. Her work will focus on the cycling of organic carbon across hydroclimate/land use/erosion gradients in the Kasai Basin in tropical Africa. The project is part of the Congo Biogeochemistry Observatory.
Advisor: Mark Torres
Thesis: Stochasticity, Stability and Hysteresis in Biogeochemical Cycling of Carbon & Silicon
STUDENT HONORS AND AWARDS
Congratulations to our Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences award recipients!
Alison Henning Teaching Award
Awarded to the graduate students who have shown outstanding initiative and made valuable contributions to undergraduate instruction for either semester of the current academic year.
Jonathan Membreno, Jiale Mou, Zoey Zhou
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Awarded to the undergraduate student with the most excellent academic record and overall outstanding performance.
Valentina Osorio
Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Awarded to the graduate student with the most excellent academic record and overall outstanding performance.
Jackson Borchardt
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Service Award
Many people contribute to the activities and accomplishments of the department, from undergraduate, graduates, post-docs, staff and faculty. The graduate students and also undergraduates, in particular, help maintain the life and culture of the department, which contributes so much to our mission and success.
This award goes to the student who has helped enhance our community and made opportunities for the student body to grow during her time as a graduate student.
Debadrita Jana
- Debadrita took the lead in establishing the Rice Student Chapter of the Association of Women Geoscientists, which is growing in membership and activities.
- She is a strong proponent for science communication, in particular, serving as co-chair for the annual Houston’s Communicating Science Conference, or ComSciCon, which allows students and postdocs to engage with experts in science writing, science policy and multimedia communication, enhancing students’ abilities to communicate their research to broad diverse audiences.
- She is also been active member of our graduate student body throughout her time here at Rice.
The Sam Worden Endowed Memorial Award in Geophysics
Sam Worden graduated from Rice University in 1935 and was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1983. When he was a student here at Rice, the Department of Geology and Geophysics had not yet been established, and he received his degree in Electrical Engineering. However, he had a lifelong love of Geophysics. He was an inventor and is well known for his Worden Gravimeter, used extensively by Geophysical crews in searching for oil fields, especially in salt dome areas. In 1987, Sam’s wife, Helen, endowed this award in memory of her husband.
Awarded to a graduating geophysics undergraduate or graduating geophysics graduate student. The award is based on the student's creative, innovative contributions to the enhancement of geophysics, either in theory or instrumentation.
Ben Belzer
The Eugen Merten Memorial Prize in Geology and Geophysics
Eugen Merten was a leading geophysicist and seismologist with Shell Oil Company here in Houston from 1926 until his retirement in 1960. He was always interested in young people and their education. His daughter, Lore Merten Watt, who received her B.A. from Rice University in 1946, and an M.A. in 1947, established the endowment for this award in memory of her father in 1989. Other members of the family and friends from Shell have also contributed.
The award is given to the most outstanding junior level geology and/or geophysics student. It is based on the most outstanding academic results during the previous fall semester and/or cumulative GPA.
Josie Taylor
The Leroy Caleb Gibbon Award
Leroy Caleb Gibbon was born in Missouri in the late 19th century and lived for some time in West Texas, but made his home in Oklahoma. His son Harry and grandson Donald both received Rice degrees, and both were involved in the Earth Sciences. In 1958 Harry decided to memorialize his father and at the same time further the education in the Earth Sciences at Rice University by establishing the endowed Leroy Gibbon Award in Geology.
The Gibbon Award is given to a graduating student for the best-conceived and best-written thesis. The technical content of the winning thesis is expected to be in keeping with the highest standards. Moreover, the award recognizes high quality writing and exposition in particular. This award is only available to students who have turned in their final completed thesis (Master’s or Doctoral) within 6 weeks after their oral defense.
Sydney Allen
The Torkild Rieber Award in Geology
Torkild Rieber was one of the early leaders who had a substantial influence on the growth and development of Houston. He came to the United States from Norway. In his early years he was a seafaring man who became captain of one of the first Gulf Coast oil tankers. This occupation led him into a long and distinguished career in the petroleum industry culminating with the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Texas Company. Torkild Rieber was a good friend of the Cullinan family who provided the endowment for the Torkild Rieber Award.
Awarded to undergraduate or graduate students who have "distinguished themselves by high academic standing or other achievements in courses in geology".
Undergraduate Students:
Ainsley Ganti, Marlo Wilcox
Graduate Students:
Debjeet Pathak, Stewart Williams
Mills Bennett Award
Provides a fellowship for a graduate student with high academic records and outstanding qualifications, for advance studies on the occurrence, properties, distribution, movement, and pollution of water on and beneath the surface of the land.
Kelsey Murphy
Douglas and Martha Lou Broussard Fellowship in Earth Science
Presented by EEPS alum Martha Lou Broussard (’57). Martha Lou was the 1st woman to graduate from the (then) Department of Geology; after graduation she worked at Shell Research and later returned to this department to work as department administrator.
The Broussard Fellowship provides support for a female graduate student, with high academic records and contributes to the department and University, in the later year(s) of their program.
Martha Lou presented this year’s award to Valeriia Sobolevskaia
Houston Geological Society Undergraduate Scholarship
Valentina Osorio