Award Winners

Wallace-Poole Prize

Sam Wright has excelled across Environmental Sciences, from ecological interactions of microorganisms to whole forest ecosystem dynamics, and in abiotic biogeochemistry from wetlands to global-scale systems. Sam has built a process-based model that assesses changes in nutrient content in tree biomass following harvesting cycles as part of his DMP that rivals that of PhD candidates. Sam has demonstrated his talents in going above requirements in projects and examinations but is humble and a great peer and friend to many.

Wilbur A. Nelson Award 

Audrey Yin receives the Wilbur Nelson Award as the exceptional graduating student in geosciences. Audrey completed summer internships at UPenn, Penn State, and Caltech. In her DMP thesis with Prof. Limaye, Audrey took her work to Mars and built a numerical model to interpret its icy sediments. Audrey is a 2-time winner of the outstanding presentation award at EnviroDay, and she greatly streamlined our approach to grading 100 exams for Fundamentals of Geology. Last weekend she even led a field trip to hunt for fossil mega-shark teeth on the coast. Audrey, thank you for all you've done, and keep exploring.

Mahlon G. Kelly Prize 

Declan McQuinn is graduating this semester with a double major in Environmental Sciences (B.S.) and Mathematics, and a minor in Philosophy. He has a current GPA of 3.91. Early in his time at UVA, Declan’s assistance on a project reviewing dynamic vegetation modeling for Arctic-Boreal ecosystems led to him being a co-author on a publication in Environmental Research Letters. For the summer of 2025, Declan was an REU student at the Blandy Experimental Farm studying the effects of disturbance and nutrient additions on plant flowering phenology in early successional grassland ecosystems. During his final academic year, Declan completed our Distinguished Majors Program. In a research idea developed completely on his own, he used satellite remote sensing imagery to examine the dynamics of and controls on vegetation phenology during secondary ecosystem succession following agricultural abandonment.

Michael Garstang Atmospheric Sciences Award 

Ella Hurlbet told Professor Bob Davis in Intro to Climatology class a few years ago, on the first day, she told me how excited she was to take this class. Reminded me of me about 45 years ago!  She has taken just about every atm. sci. class that we offer.  She defended her DMP this morning on the impact of Cuban topography on tropical cyclone intensity.  She will be attending graduate school at the Univ. of Miami this coming fall.

Undergraduate Award in Hydrology 

Kate Bachman is an Echols Scholar who is double majoring in Economics and Environmental Science (B.S.). She has taken numerous upper-division hydrology courses and currently has a 3.96 GPA. She has a broad range of environmental research experiences, including evaluating the effects of climate inputs on climate inputs on streamflow prediction, working at Blandy, and her current DMP that looks at the effects of heat stress in Norfolk. In her spare time, Kate is also an active member and music leader for the Cavalier Marching Band.

Bloomer Award 

Fernando Zamora Mata is a brilliant, inquisitive, and thoughtful undergraduate and has shown his propensity for chemistry and geoscience through his double major chemistry-environmental sciences. He is excelling in geochemistry research and class work. Fernando does not have room on his desk at home due to his expansive (and growing) rock collection. He will be working this summer with Virginia Energy to investigate potential rare earth element resources in mine wastes.

Richard Scott Mitchell Award

Jackson LaPorte is the recipient of the Richard Scott Mitchell Award, which is given to a rising fourth-year student in geosciences. Jackson has excelled in advanced geoscience coursework including Prof. Richardson's soil science class. And in Prof. Limaye's seminar on the Appalachian Mountains, Jackson has boldly tackled challenging topics like cosmogenic radionuclide dating. Jackson is exploring interests in geoscience consulting and lab work as he charts his exciting path forward.

Hart Family Award 

John Haney is working on a research project that builds upon his growing expertise in geological materials and their impacts on society. He will be leveraging existing rock samples from Virginia Energy's expansive collection and sampling rock outcrops across the state of Virginia, under the guidance and supervision of Justin Richardson and the State Geologist's office.

Interdisciplinary Award 

Sara Kakatkar has established an outstanding four-year record at UVa.  Among other accolades, she is an Echols Scholar, a College Science Scholar, a recipient of the Hart Family Award, and she was inducted into the Raven Society last month.  She has conducted research on a number of different projects with my group over the past 3 years, including co-authorship of a paper published recently on the impact of the 2023 Quebec wildfires on respiratory health in Charlottesville. She has worked each weekend as an EMT with the Western Albemarle County Rescue Squad.  She defended her DMP this morning on heat and air quality impacts on ED visits in Richmond.  Next up? Medical school at Virginia Tech.

Jefferson Conservation Award

Michael Garstang Award

Exploratory Awards

Moore Awards

Arthur A. Pegau Graduate Award in Geology

Minh-Tri Truong, also known as Robin, was trained as a chemist but has substantially grown his knowledge and application of geology. He has excelled as a teaching assistant in fundamentals of geology and geochemistry and has rapidly learned how to identify minerals using geochemical composition through scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. He is working on coal samples from West Virginia and Virginia and even submitted a manuscript on the variability of copper and zinc isotopes in coal standard reference materials from the USGS. This award recognizes these achievements in geosciences.

Hank Shugart Graduate Award in Ecology

Paola Granados studies carbon flows to and from salt marshes at the Eastern Shore – an area of research that ties into large-scale carbon cycling in the coastal lagoons and beyond. She has spent countless hours at Fowling Point Marsh at the VCR LTER site collecting data – an activity Paola enjoys very much despite being attacked by biting Green Head Flies on a calm day.  During her time here as a PhD student, Paola has contributed significantly to social and educational activities for undergraduate and graduate students in the Department and at the university level.

Graduate Award in Atmospheric Sciences

Jeremy Corner has demonstrated a strong academic record and a clear enthusiasm for atmospheric science, particularly in using AI to better understand extreme events and their drivers. He has already presented his research at major international conferences, including AGU and AMS, and recently submitted a first-author paper to Geophysical Research Letters. Jeremy has also consistently contributed as a Teaching Assistant in the department. We look forward to his future contributions to improving our understanding of extremes, their predictability, and their impacts. We are very pleased to recognize Jeremy with the Atmospheric Science Graduate Award.

George Hornberger Graduate Award in Hydrology

Jack Boyle has made great progress in his PhD, with research focused on the effects of wildfires on watershed hydrology and ecosystems. Next week, he will be presenting his work at the international ASLO scientific meeting. Beyond academics, he has been an outstanding TA in multiple interdisciplinary courses and is one of the GSA social chairs - you’ll probably find him at one of the department intramural teams or running events.

Ellison-Edmonson Award

Meara Tolentino has been exemplary in taking initiative in developing her interdisciplinary research at the intersection of hydrology, ecology, and geosciences in predicting DOC dynamics across the terrestrial-coastal continuum using a combination of fieldwork, modeling, and remote sensing. Outside of research, Meara has also been active as one of the department’s Sustainability Co-Chairs. 

The Fred Holmsley Moore Teaching Award

Jay Zieman Research Publication Award

Henry Yeung wrote his first first-author paper, "Overlooked and extensive ghost forest formation across the US Atlantic coast", which was published in Nature Sustainability in 2025. By using deep learning to map over 10 million dead trees across the Atlantic coast of the US, Henry showed how sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion contributed to the formation of ghost forests, and how high-resolution remote sensing reveals a pattern that was not observed before. Henry's work was covered by Science, The Washington Post, and NPR's RadioIQ. Congratulations, Henry!

Tice Prize

Howie Epstein is given recognition of his exceptional and sustained research excellence. During the 2025 calendar year, Howie published thirteen peer‑reviewed papers in highly regarded journals, including one as lead author, one led by his postdoctoral researcher, and four led by his graduate students, demonstrating both scholarly productivity and strong mentorship. In addition, he served as PI or co‑PI on three externally funded grants totaling more than $3 million, exclusive of a previously awarded $20 million EPA grant that was terminated in May 2025. Howie advised five graduate students and two postdoctoral scholars and served as advisor or co‑advisor to five DMP students, further reflecting his substantial contributions to research training and student development.

Trout Unlimited Award

Charlie Miller is a 4th -year student who conducted research with the Shenandoah Watershed Study over the past two years, providing valuable contributions to the study of how terrestrial carbon pool dynamics shape the export of dissolved carbon to mountain streams. As an avid fly fisherman, Charlie was truly in his native habitat during his regular visits to Paine Run in Shenandoah National Park, where he helped maintain and collect data from an array of soil and in-stream sensors. 

Joseph K. Roberts Award

Chris Oxley was awarded the Best Student Talk award at the annual Benthic Ecology Meeting in Virginia Beach, VA. Chris’s oral presentation was ranked highest among 110 student talks at this national-scale meeting. The presentation represented the results from Chris’s first dissertation chapter, entitled, "Salinity drives the tidal niche and biogeography of eastern oysters in Texas, USA".

ESO Award

Environmental Sciences Student Excellence Award

Chair's Award

ShaRhonda Swann is someone who needs no introduction to the department. For two years she was the department receptionist who greeted everyone with a smile and big laugh, and always a warm greeting. She organized our social events, booked travel, helped with reimbursements and treated everyone like a good friend. This past year she was promoted to a new role as assistant to the chair, and has taken on major new roles of overseeing graduate funding packages, student awards, helping me organize department chaos, all while still being a trusted friend and advisor to many of us in this department.

GSA Award

Graduate Student Mentor Award

Postdoc Publication Award