HGS 2015 Outstanding Student Awardees
Each year, the Houston Geological Society recognizes outstanding students from area universities. Students are selected for recognition based on nomination by their faculty. HGS awards each outstanding student with a $750 prize, publication of their biographical sketch in the HGS Bulletin, and a plaque all to be presented at the October HGS General Dinner Meeting. This year, the following students have been selected by faculty and HGS for outstanding academic achievements and contributions to geology.
Sam Houston State University - Meagan DePugh
Meagan is a senior geology student at Sam Houston State University who will be graduating in August of 2015. She is currently the events coordinator in both the Sam Houston Association of Geology Students and Sam Houston’s AAPG student chapter. She is a teaching assistant for the Geology Department for Physical Geology and Hazards labs. As well as teaching, Meagan has assisted in undergraduate research with Dr. Patrick Harris and Dr. Jon Sumrall. The work done with Dr. Harris on killing Ettringite formation in sulfate bearing soils was recently published in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No 2462 Soil Mechanics 2014. She also recently presented her research on Barbados’ chirping beach sands in March at the 2015 South Central GSA 49 Annual Meeting and received an award for the best undergraduate presentation. She received the Sam Houston Association of Geology Students Scholarship award and was chosen to receive the HGS Outstanding Student award in spring 2014. Meagan was named to the Dean’s List for Fall 2012, Spring 2013, and Spring 2014, and was named to the President’s list Fall 2012. Meagan was accepted into the Graduate Geology program at Texas A&M University and will begin her studies there in August 2015.
Steven F Austin - Martin Messmer
Martin Messmer is a graduate students at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. His thesis research focuses on detailed geologic mapping and structural analysis in the Ouachita Mountains. He graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and Environmental Geosciences from Northern Illinois University and is a member of the Shreveport Geological Society and AAPG.
University of Houston – Kurt Sundell
I am a second year Ph.D. student at the University of Houston working under the advisement of Dr. Joel E. Saylor. My primary interests are tectonics and sedimentation. I use a variety of stratigraphic, as well as stable and radiogenic isotopic geochemical tools to understand large-scale tectonic problems. Currently, I am investigating a suite of intermontane basins in southern Peru in attempt to place constraints on geodynamic models explaining the development of the central Andean plateau of South America.
University of Texas (Austin) - Rattanaporn Fongngern
I am currently a PhD candidate at the Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG), University of Texas at Austin (UT). I earned a BS with honors in Geological Sciences from Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. While a student there, the Faculty of Sciences at Chiang Mai University awarded me the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award during the years 2005, 2006, and 2008. I also received the Outstanding Student on Academic Achievement Award in Field of Geology in 2005, in occasion of the 100th anniversary of Professor Dr. Tab Nilanidhi Foundation, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. From 2006 to 2007 I served as secretary and treasurer for the Geological Science Student Club, Chiang Mai University and was awarded Outstanding Member. During my senior year in the college, I assisted my colleague in founding the “Geothai.net” website, the first and only website that posts geology related articles, most of them translated from English to Thai language. I have been an administrator and article translator for the website ever since. In 2008, the Royal Thai Government granted me a scholarship under the Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talents Project (DPST) to continue my graduate study abroad. In addition, the scholarship grants me the opportunity to become full professor in Thailand after finishing my Ph.D. degree. I was accepted at UT, where I started my master’s degree in 2009 and later enroll in a Ph.D in 2011.
While at UT, I soon realized that sedimentology and stratigraphy are my true passion and decided to specialize in deep-water depositional systems. My PhD research focuses on a source-to-sink system within the deep lake Dacian Basin in Romania, under the supervision of Prof. Ron Steel and Dr. Cornel Olariu. This study integrates 3D seismic dataset with outcrop observations. The research goal is to investigate the control of tectonic, climate, and sediment supply on the enclosed basin stratigraphy and to compare this system to their better-known marine counterparts. During the 2012-2014 field seasons in the Dacian Basin, I overcame difficulties posed by the language barrier and field work logistics and successfully collected field data in river valleys and valuable discussion about my breakthrough ideas with Romanian geologists. Throughout all these experiences, I found the challenges faced during my field work to be highly motivational and inspirational. My hard work on the project has been rewarded in several occasions: I received a Postgraduate Research Grant from the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) in 2013 and won the 2nd place for Best Late Career PhD Research Award at the Jackson School of Geosciences Annual Research Symposium for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.
Throughout my career as a student, I have always sought for opportunities to get involved and make an impact, as those are my daily motivation and passion for learning ever since I enrolled in college in Chang Mai. I am therefore especially thankful for the countless opportunities that the JSG has provided me, as they allowed me to grow both as a geologist and a person. In 2012, I volunteered to organize the JSG “Soft Rock” seminar, a school seminar that focuses on sedimentology and stratigraphy. This was a great opportunity to interact with professors, researchers and fellow students in these particular fields. I have also participated in class-related field trips to several remote places such as Svalbard region of Norway and Argentina. After each trip, I have shared a summary of my experience and the key geological findings, with other fellow Thai geology students through the “GeoThai.net” website. I have also been invited by the dean of JSG to present my field trip experiences to the JSG Geology Foundation Advisory Council, a privilege that I was granted for two consecutive years during the 2014 and 2015 annual meetings.
Besides my research, I am also involved in activities organized by the Thai Association of Austin, for which I served as treasurer in 2010. Since 2014 I have been coaching the Science Olympiad team of a local high school in Austin on the topics covered by the "Geologic Mapping" and "Rocks and Minerals" events. During the 2014 UT Austin Science Olympiad Regional Tournament, I helped to write the test for the Geologic Mapping event. With all of these opportunities, I cannot be more grateful that Geology, a path that I dearly chose, has been highly rewarding in any aspects of my life.
Rice University – Adeene Denton
As I am continually reminded by my family, spending time in Colorado when I was a kid meant me dragging them to rock shops and caves off the side of the road in amateur spelunking expeditions. While it took until college to realize that Earth Science was my passion, in reality it has always been a part of my life. Not every child consistently names their pets after rocks and minerals.
My interest in Earth Science often facilitates my love of travel. I am an avid traveler, but prefer to be studying and learning while I do it. I aim to be exposed to many different parts of the world and to learn from them, but also advance myself within my studies in my field or other interests. I have used my scuba diving experience to work on underwater archeology in the Balearic Islands, finding ancient Roman shipwrecks and identifying their cargo. My geology field camp was in Nepal, where I trekked through the Annapurna region studying metamorphism, geomorphology, and glacial activity in the last Glacial Maximum. This summer, I will be working at the Lunar Planetary Institute, an affiliate of NASA, studying the structural faulting that resulted from the meteorite impact at Meteor Crater, Arizona.
I keep an active body in order to focus my mind. I work hard to keep up with my years of ballet and modern dance training, and I am also an avid trail and distance runner. When I am not in class, running, or dancing, I am also a late night DJ for Rice’s college radio station and president of RUGS, the Rice Undergraduate Geosciences Society. RUGS, which I helped found last year, is designed to help Earth Science undergraduates at Rice form a community, as well as prepare them for graduate school or employment in the industry.”
Texas A&M - Louis Quinones
Louis Quinones will graduate in Fall 2015 with a B.S. in Geophysics, and has been one of the top students in the Texas A&M program throughout his academic career. His primary geophysical interests are in seismology, from the study of earthquake wave propagation to near surface data acquisition. In Summer 2015, Louis will participate in the highly competitive IRIS Summer Internship Program, working on an independent seismology research project. Post-graduation, Louis is contemplating graduate school as well as employment with a geophysical exploration or geological consulting firm.