EEPS graduation ceremonies and celebrations, held on May 9th, recognize the achievements of faculty, staff and students, and especially, the graduating class of 2025. The reception included a celebration concert by the band 'Igneous is Bliss', which included a guest appearance by EEPS faculty Dr. Mark Torres.
"We are proud to recognize , the graduating class of 2025. Our students have shown that they are resilient and incredibly energetic, and our graduates are the ones who will guide society forward, sharing their knowledge, their creativity, and new ideas. We are proud to recognize what our students have learned – and what they have taught us. Their knowledge spans our entire Earth – reaching from the core to the surface, exploring our environment – the oceans, atmosphere, and ever-changing climate, and increasingly, those mysterious worlds far beyond our own planet."
- Julia Morgan, Chair of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Faculty & Staff Honors
Melodie French has been awarded the Charles W. Duncan, Jr. Achievement Award for Outstanding Faculty - This award is in honor of Charles Duncan, former chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees, and is presented each year to a full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty member in recognition of outstanding performance in the areas of both teaching and scholarship. Receipt of this award is testament to the value and quality of Melodie’s scientific contributions and instruction.
Jonathan Ajo-Franklin was just announced as a recipient of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists of The Reginald Fessenden Award. This award is given to a person who has made a specific technical contribution to exploration geophysics, such as an invention or a theoretical or conceptual advancement, which merits special recognition.
Lee Willson has been awarded the Ruth M. Parks Award for Distinguished Service – She is recognized “for 17 years of outstanding service to EEPS Department, patiently and professionally addressing and coordinating the needs of a broad mix of faculty, staff and students, and ensuring that the department functions smoothly and efficiently.”
Graduating Students
EEPS Bachelor of Science degree graduates:
Josie Taylor, Mathew Kumar
Bachelor of Arts with Earth Science Concentration:
Tanya Pawawongsak, Nikhil Shekar
EEPS Minor:
Daniela Najmias Lang
This year we also honored graduates from the Environmental Sciences Program:
Viviana Contreras, Dumari De Leon+, Francesca Gastaldo, Faith Hill, Gayatri Singla, Graham Waterstraat, Zach Yiannias
+Distinction in Research, Creative Work, and Design in Environmental Science for her project titled: Work in ecological sciences and sustainability within federal/local government agencies, research labs, sports and youth education programs; aimed at improving the well-being of local and underrepresented communities.
Professional Master of Energy Science:
Mohammed Al Atwah, Vince D. Bucciarelli, Faiz Hassim, Jigo Mismanos, Bernard W. Sim, Dalmiro, Zolezzi Mir
EEPS Master of Science
Miriam Gammerman
Advisor: Dr. Mark Torres
Thesis: Pedogenic carbonate formation mechanisms and their trace element signatures
EEPS Doctor of Philosophy:
Will J. Larsen (Dec ’24) is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Desert Research Institute.
Advisor: Mark Torres
Thesis: Hydrologic controls on riverine fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon
Tanner A. Shadoan (Dec’24) is a Geophysicist at Oxy
Advisor: Jonathan Ajo-Franklin
Thesis: Time-lapse seismic monitoring of fault activation in geological carbon storage caprocks
Stewart Williams (May ’25) and is a lab manager at Stanford University.
Advisor: Melodie French
Thesis: Constraining Stress and Structural Development within Subduction Zones Using Rock Deformation Experiments
Xinyue Luo (Aug ’24)
Advisor: Sylvia Dee
Thesis: Characterizing the El Nino – Southern Oscillation and its North American Teleconnections over the Last Millennium
Student Honors and Awards
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.
Mei Chien Morgan Underwood
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Awarded to the undergraduate student with the most excellent academic record and overall outstanding performance.
Nyla Hartigan
Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Awarded to the graduate student with the most excellent academic record and overall outstanding performance.
Gaetano Ferrante
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 years award goes to three individuals who have helped enhance the community and opportunities for the student body during their time as EEPS students.
Edgar Villegas, Zoe Zhou and Tanya Pawawongsak (undergraduate)
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.
Tanner Shadoan, Ph.D.
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.
Adam Leff
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.
William J. Larsen
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:
Isabel Wasserman, Josie Taylor
Graduate Students:
Dian Ji, Aindrila Pal
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.
Jiayue Yin
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 Ellie Moreland