Student Research Grants Awarded for 2026
Every year, the Colorado Scientific Society’s supports the next generation of scientists by awarding grants through its Memorial Funds Grant Program. The Society maintains six funds established through generous gifts from members and friends. The six funds are the Ogden Tweto Fund, the Steven Oriel Fund, the Edwin Eckel Fund, the Bill Pierce Fund, the George Snyder Fund, and the Bruce Bryant Fund.
Interest accrued during each year is awarded to senior undergraduates and graduate students through a competitive application process. The principal balances remain untouched assuring continuation of the program.
The 2026 Colorado Scientific Society Memorial Funds Committee was: Shannon Mahan (Chair, 2025 President), Susan Slomski (2024–2026 Councilor), Nate Rogers (2024–2026 Councilor), Harrison Gray (2025–2027 Councilor), Amy Crandell (2026-2028 Councilor), and Madeline Ferguson (2026-2028 Councilor).
A total of $15,000 was awarded to twenty recipients at eight different institutions. Grants of $1,000 or $500 were awarded to each applicant.
2026 Colorado Scientific Society Student Research Grant Awardees
John Allard, PhD candidate at University of Colorado, Boulder: Cenozoic Uplift and Supergene Weathering in the Northern Sierra Nevada: Constraints from (U–Th)/He Chronology
Nikhil Arolkar, PhD candidate at Colorado School of Mines: The nature and age of deformation along the Nashoba-Avalon terrane boundary in Eastern Massachusetts
Zoe Bowers, MS candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Geochronology and Sedimentary Provenance Analysis of Upper Cretaceous Strata in the Antarctic Peninsula, with a Focus on the Santa Marta Formation
Helena Calegari Biscuola, BS candidate at University of Colorado, Boulder: Documenting the Cenozoic exhumation history in the Boulder and Leadville areas using apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology
Jutamas Charoensuk, PhD candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Organic Carbon Distribution in Submarine Depositional Systems of the Lewis Shale, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming
Ashley Ford, PhD candidate at Colorado State University: Microplastics in Motion—Canopy-Soil Coupling of Microplastic Dynamics near U.S. Rocky Mountain Headwaters
Jessica Hiatt, PhD candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Evaluating Vegetation Dynamics as Indicators of Underground Coal Fire Activity using UAS Multispectral Remote Sensing
Jacob Huwadt, MS candidate at University of Tennessee: Soil and landscape response to the Eocene-Oligocene climatic transition recorded in the White River Formation, Colorado
Ekin Kidir, MS candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Remote Sensing-Based Structural Analysis of the North Park Basin, Colorado
Maggie Moss, PhD candidate at Colorado State University: Pre-caldera Basalts as Records of Evolving Magmatic Processes at Yellowstone: A Multi-proxy Petrologic and Geochemical Test across Three Caldera Cycles
Isaac Perez Mamani, MS candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Paleodepth and geothermometers as a indicators of magma fertility at the Velasco Alkaline Complex, Bolivia
Owen Purcell, MS candidate at University of Arizona: Reconstructing Western Interior Seaway Storm Conditions by Applying Airy Wave Theory to Cretaceous Tempestites in the Book Cliffs, UT
Amanda Rea, MS candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Temporal and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Claron Formation in Bryce Canyon National Park through calcite U-Pb geochronology and continental trace fossil characterization
Sydney Reynolds, MS candidate at Western Washington University: Paleoenvironmental changes in the Aycross Formation (Wyoming, USA): Implications for mammal evolution in greenhouse climates
Lena Schwebs, PhD candidate at University of Wyoming: Subsurface Investigation on the Importance of Rocky Mountain Fens using Geophysical and Paleoecological Methods
Victoria Simoneau, PhD candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Basement Shear Inheritance and Structural Control of Hydrocarbon Migration along the Spring Creek Fault System, North Park Basin, Colorado
Joshua Thomas, MS candidate at Colorado School of Mines: Geologic Map of the northern half of the Loveland Pass 7.5-minute quadrangle, Central Colorado Front Range
Zane Wasicko, MS candidate at University of Utah: Timpanogos Rock Glacier Snow Incorporation
Leiaka Welcome, PhD candidate at Colorado School of Mines: A Geo-Social Analysis Using GIS: Mapping Fluvial Geomorphic Changes and Community Impacts in the Rio Grande Rift
Lily Zugschwert, MS candidate at University of Colorado, Boulder: Taphonomy at Small Scales: Identifying Trace-Makers Using Vertebrate Microfossils and Biomechanical Engineering Experiments
