The CSS Memorial Fund Committee (myself, Mark Hudson, Bruce Bryant, Richard Madole, and Eric Erslev) met April 17, 2002 to evaluate research proposals for the Tweto, Oriel, Eckel, Snyder and Pierce funds. We received 26 proposals from 18 Universities—16 from across the United States, one from Canada, and one from Greece. The total was an increase of 5 from the previous year.
We awarded 11 grants totaling $8750 from the Tweto, Oriel, Eckel, and Snyder Funds. No proposals were received for research on the Heart Mountain fault. The $3,850 in the Pierce fund will rollover to the 2003 Pierce Memorial Fund. A total of $3,400 was awarded from the Tweto Fund for research in the Rocky Mountains, supporting three proposals and partial funding for one proposal. The Oriel Fund for research in the central and northern Rocky Mountains awarded $2,400 to three proposals. The Eckel Fund for research in engineering geology awarded $1,650 to support two full and one partial proposal. The Snyder Fund for research on Precambrian geology of the Rocky Mountains awarded $1,300 to two proposals.
Jessica Allen, $1,000 – Tweto Fund, University of Georgia, MS, “The sequence stratigraphy of the Harding Sandstone”
Amanda Aultv, $880 – Tweto and Eckel Funds, Lehigh University, Ph.D, “What is the nature of fluvial strath terraces”
Brian Coven, $640 – Snyder Fund, Northern Arizona University, MS, “Cogenesis of the Tertiary West Elk volcano and West Elk laccolithic cluster, Colorado: Implications of magma genesis during the Tertiary volcanism of the southern Rocky Mountains”
Benjamin Grosser, $660 – Snyder Fund, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, MS, “Petrology and geochemistry of the Wildcat Gulch syenite: Comparison with the Tolvar Peak granite and the Powderhorn carbonatite complex”
Caroline Harris, $1,180 – Oriel Fund, Northern Arizona University, MS, “P-T paths and thermal modeling from the Albion Mountains, southern Idaho: Implications for hinterland deformation of the Sevier orogeny”
Ben Kennedy, $970 – Tweto Fund, McGill University, Ph.D, “The roles of faults at Lake City Caldera, San Juan Mountains Colorado and how they relate to the deeper structures and intrusions of Ossipee Ring Complex, New Hampshire”
Elizabeth S. Langenburg, $420, Oriel Fund, Utah State University, MS, “Middle Cambrian parasequences in the Wheeler Formation: faunal response to sea level oscillations and high-resolution chemostratigraphy of the House Range embayment”
Isaac J. Larsen, $600, Eckel Fund, Utah State University, MS, “Mass-movement sediment delivery to the Green River: Linking bedrock geology, precipitation, and hillslope processes in Dinosaur National Monument”
Laura I. Net, $800, Oriel Fund, University of Texas, Austin, MS, “Diagenesis and reservoir quality of the eolian Nugget/Navajo Sandstone”
Paul A. Petersen, $600, Eckel Fund, Utah State University, MS, “Finding thresholds for gully erosion of archaeological sites, Grand Canyon National Park: an empirical prediction analysis”
Erin H. Phillips, $1,000, Tweto Fund, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, MS, “The nature of resurgence in the Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico”
Over the past 19 years, the Society has helped support the graduate research of 143 students, awarding a total of $106,832 (an average of nearly $750 per grant). This achievement is extraordinary for an organization of our size and exemplifies the commitment of its members to promote high quality research in the field of earth. It was an honor and pleasure to serve as Memorial Fund Chair this year and I want to extend a “thank you” to all the Memorial Fund donors that have made these grants possible.
