Student Travel Grants

MGPV Travel grants support student travel to the annual GSA meeting.

Applications are restricted to active graduate or undergraduate students who are the presenting authors of an accepted abstract at the annual GSA meeting. Applicants must be members of the Geological Society of America and of the Division of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, and Volcanology.

The grants are $500.00 cash award. Checks will be mailed to those students selected for the award shortly after the meeting.


The funds for this award were endowed by the estate of James B. Thompson Jr., who recognized the value of presenting results at meetings and attending field trips for students preparing for careers in the geosciences. Dr. Thompson retired as the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard in 1992 after a career of more than forty years. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1967.  He was awarded the Arthur L. Day Medal of the Geological Society of America in 1964, the Mineralogical Society of America Roebling Medal in 1978, and the V. M. Goldschmidt Award of the Geochemical Society in 1985. Thompson served as the President of both the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geochemical Society.

Call for Applications

  • Application Deadline for the 2024 grants: midnight (EDT) 15 August 2024.

Application Procedure

(1) Download and complete the MGPV Travel Grant Application form that includes:

  • your name and contact information
  • a one page resume.
  • a copy and link to the accepted abstract
  • a brief summary how attendance at the annual GSA meeting will enhance your career plans
  • a brief summary how the award is to be used

(2) By the stated deadline, send one pdf that includes the completed application form, your resume, abstract accept, and explanations to the MGPV Division Secretary-Treasurer, J. Alex Speer, Mineralogical Society of America, 3635 Concorde Pkwy Ste 500, Chantilly VA 20151-1110 USA; e-mail: jaspeer@minsocam.org

Award Evaluation Procedure

Award Committee:  The Award Committee will be made up of the elected officers of the MGPV Division, who will review the applications, and select the top ten candidates based on eligibility, resume and relevance of attendance at the national meeting to future career plans in geoscience.

The Award:  The Award will consist of a certificate and up to $500 cash award. Checks will be mailed to those students selected for the award shortly after the Annual Meeting.  GSA requires the students to check in with GSA on-site to verify they were present, and verify their mailing address and Social Security Number.  Certificates will be presented at the Division Awards Session at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America.  

Timetable:  Applications are due by midnight (EDT) 15 August 2024 and the Award Committee will make its recommendation to the MGPV Division Board by 2 September so that the Management Board can make its final decision before the annual meeting.


Previous Awardees:

2024

Nicole Aikin, University of Washington, Same Package, Different Paths: Comparative Petrochronology of The Grand Canyon’s Precambrian Vishnu Schist from Subduction To Collision Using In-Situ Monazite EMPA Dates & Pseudosection Modelling

Aaron Beirl, Southern Illinois University, Petrological and Geochemical Analysis of the Grant’s Intrusive Breccia Within Hick’s Dome, Hardin County, Illinois

Sofia Della Sala, University of Oxford, Evidence for a Byzantine-Era Hydrothermal Event in Santorini’s Caldera from Hg in IODP Expedition 398 Sediments

Dustin David Heese, University of Kansas, Using Raman spectroscopy to investigate crystallinity variations, mineralogical diversity, and SP2 carbonaceous material within oolitic hematite.

Catherine A Juranek, Southern Illinois University, The Co-Evolution of Copper Minerals and Copper Proteins Thru Geologic Time

Karla Ortega, Central Washington University, Age and Oxidation State Estimates for Plutons Spatially Associated with Mineral Deposits Along the Kettle Detachment Fault in the Orient Quadrangle, Northeastern Washington

Maximillian Dominic Richter, Indiana University Indianapolis, Compositional Variation Of The Cretaceous Big Bear Lake Intrusive Suite, Central Transverse Ranges: Petrographic and Whole Rock Geochemical Analyses

Matthew Towne, California State University Chico, IOCG and IOA Deposit Signatures in Lights Creek Stock by Magnetite Chemistry Via Random Forest Algorithm

Jade Umbsaar, University of Toronto, Critical Metal Distributions Within the Volpa Sms Deposit: a Comparative Model for Magmatic Volatile Flux?

Ana Vielma, University of Houston, Challenging the Paradigm: Paleoredox and Lithofacies Revelations from Organic Sulfur in Deepwater Monterey Formation, Santa Maria Basin, California

Joy Youngblood, Central Michigan University, Geochemical Dispersion Halos of Lithium Pegmatites as a Potential Exploration Tool: a Preliminary Comparative Study in Florence County, Northeastern Wisconsin, USA

** Honorable mention should be made of Dustin David Heese, University of Kansas. He was among the finalist, but as he received a travel grant from another Division the award could be given to another.

2023

Emma Burkett, University of New Hampshire, Assessing Crustal Storage throughout the Eruptive History of Augustine Volcano

Juliana Curtis, Miami University of Ohio, An Integrated Petrological, Geochemical, and Geochronological Study of Megacrystic K-Feldspars from Cretaceous-Aged Intrusions, Central Nevada: Insights Into Earth’s Magmatic Record Keepers

William Dufresne, Clemson University, Electron-Phonon Interactions and Resonant Multiphonon Scattering in Hematite

Jisoo Kim, Arizona State University, Magma reservoir conditions and volatile concentrations for inter-caldera El Cajete sequence at Valles Caldera, New Mexico, USA

Sarah Lamm, University of Kansas, Elucidating the Structural State of Opaline Silica by Raman Spectroscopy

Quinton Mindrup, Kansas State University, Impact of Seawater Alteration on Cu Isotope Composition of Oceanic Basalts along the South Atlantic Transect: IOPD Exp 390/393 & Lithium Concentrations in Cenozoic Rhyolite Vitrophyres and Quartz-Hosted Melt Inclusions: Implications for Lithium Deposits in the Northern Great Basin (U.S.A.)

Allyson Murray, University of Michigan, Direct Evidence of a Magmatic-Hydrothermal Hypersaline Ore Fluid at the Enigmatic El Laco Iron Oxide Apatite Deposit

Ellen Polites, University of Wyoming, The Full Picture of REE Mobilization in Low Temperature Sedimentary Basins: Water, Rock, and Oil in The Big Horn Basin, Wyoming

Christine Reimer, Bowdoin College, Origin of Rhyolite from Crystal Mush: Plutonic Lithics From the Ohakuri Ignimbrite, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Mary Roach, Louisiana State University, Multiple fluid interactions recorded in tourmaline from the Dorothy China Clay Pit, Cornwall, UK

2022

Brodie Barth, University of Notre Dame, High Temperature Calorimetry Study of Synthetic Uranium Oxalate Phases

Clara Jean Brennan, Central Michigan University, Insights into Spodumene Crystallization and Growth from Trace Element Concentrations and Intracrystalline Zoning

Marie Gibson, New Mexico State University, Watermelon Tourmaline: Multivariate Analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Electron Microprobe Analyses

Justine G. Grabiec, University of Southern California, Halogen distribution in continental arc plumbing systems: Sierra Nevada, California

James Gutoski, University of Colorado-Boulder, Guttulatic Micr ofabrics Within the Beck Spring Dolomite

Susannah Herz, Allegheny College, Refined South China early Cambrian small shelly fossil first appearances based on dynamic time warping of δ13Ccarb sequences

Peter Lindquist, University of Washington, Fluid Release and Silica Metasomatism Near the Plate Interface Beneath Guerrero, Mexico: Predicting Talc Production at The Conditions of Episodic Tremor and Slow Slip

Disha Okhai, Purdue University, Magma Emplacement and Differentiation in the Oligocene IXL Pluton, Nevada

Alexander Theodore Taylor, University of Maryland, New constraints on the thermal structure of the Catalina Schist

Jannitta Yao, Dartmouth College, “Barrovian” Metamorphism in the Nashoba Terrane: Evidence from Combined Phase Equilibria Modeling, Geothermobarometry, and Petrographic Analysis

2021

Francisco Apen, University of California-Santa Barbara, Apatites for Destruction: New Reference Apatites for U-Pb Petrochronology and Sm-Nd And Sr Isotope Geochemistry 

Umme Fatema, Bowling Green State University, The Role of Dissolved Organic Matter on Phosphorous Sorption onto Iron-enhanced Activated Alumina Media Using in-Field and Flow-through Column experiments

Lisa Hlinka, City University of New York, Constraining Timescales of Magmatic Processes in The Columbia River Flood Basalt Province

Chioma Onwumelu, University of North Dakota (UND)-Grand Forks, Compensation Effect in Source Rock Kinetics: influence of Bitumen Formation

Tiera Naber, University of British Columbia, New Constraints On The Age, Geochemistry, And Environmental Impact of High Arctic Large Igneous Province Magmatism: Tracing The Extension of The Alpha Ridge Onto Ellesmere Island, Canada 

Ibrahim Ajibola Oladeni, Georgia State University, Rare-Earth Element Occurrence in Heavy Mineral Sand in SouthEast Georgia 

Elyssa Rivera, Auburn University, Building A Framework for Interpreting The Mo Isotopic Composition of Ore

Lorenzo Tavazzani, Southern Methodist University, Modeling Zircon Growth During Open-System Crystallization

Audrey White, University of Puget Sound, Geochemistry and Petrology of Eocene To Miocene Rocks in A Rear-Arc Setting, Central Cascades, Washington

Yezi Yang, Virginia Tech, First report of the Archaeocyathid Extinction and the Redlichiid-Olenellid Extinction Carbon isotope Excursions (AECE and ROECE) in eastern Laurentia: Implications for perturbations in the late early Cambrian carbon cycle

** Honorable mention should be made of Sarah Lamm, Kansas State University. She was among the finalist, but as she received a travel grant from another Division the award could be given to another.

2020

no 2020 travel grants

2019

Ellen W. Alexander, University of California-Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks, CA, Understanding oxygen isotopes of zircon inclusions: A case study of quartz inclusions in Tibetan granitoid zircons

Katie Ardill, University of Southern California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Mesozoic Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Central Sierra Nevada Arc Lithosphere: Investigating Magmatic Records of Dynamic Continental Arc Activity

Carl Beno, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, Textural, cathodoluminescence, and geochemical evidence for dendritic crystallization of metamorphic forsterite, Alta, Utah

Hannah J Blatchford, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, Titanite petrochronology of retrogressed eclogite and gneiss in high-strain domains of the Western Gneiss Region, Norway

Jacob Forshaw, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, Kinetic influence on prograde regional metamorphism of pelites

Stuart M. Kenderes, University of Missouri -Columbia, Columbia, MO, How low can you go? The effects of residual H2O on the advance of obsidian lava flows of the western

Yaozhu Li, Western University, London, ON, Canada, Comparative micro-X-ray diffraction study of shock metamorphosed olivine and pyroxene in ureilite meteorites.

Suzanne R Mulligan, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, Comparing Raman-inclusion barometry and thermodynamic PT modeling in Barrovian metamorphic environments 

Liannie C Velázquez Santana, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Bolivian Cumulate Hornblendite Enclaves: Insights into the Depths of Central Andean Arc Magmatic Systems

Michael Wyatt, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, Correlating regional ignimbrites and establishing a connection between andesite and rhyolite volcanism, Schoolhouse Mountain Caldera, southwestern Mogollon-Datil Volcanic Field, New Mexico

2018

Brooke Benz, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, Petrology, mineral chemistry, and geothermobarometry of andesites from the Lazufre complex, central Andes, Chile: insights into the pre-eruptive magma plumbing system

Adele Conde, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, Effects of crystal chemistry, habitus, and experiment apparatus on apatite dissolution across scales

Shoshauna Farnsworth-Pinkerton, Louisiana State University , Gonzales , LA, Tourmalinite compositions as indicators of formational environment: An example from the Tusas Mountains, northern New Mexico, USA 

Jacob Forshaw, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Thermodynamic modelling of mafic granulites: discrepancies between observed and predicted phase equilibria

Clementine Hamelin, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, A novel approach for extracting early, higher-P records from rocks overprinted at hP-lT conditions: integrating metamorphic petrology and magnetic fabrics of amphibolites exhumed in a migmatite dome

Thomas Herbst, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, Experimental vesiculation and outgassing of crystal-bearing dacite

Meridith Miska, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Paleoarchean crust of the Minnesota-Michigan corridor: Evidence from the Watersmeet dome, northern Michigan

Hannah Peacock, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, UT, Revisiting the quaternary rhyolites of the mineral mountains: new 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, paleomagnetic, and geochemical data

KayLeigh Rogers, Kansas Stat eUniversity, Manhattan, KS, Constraining the origin and emplacement of off-craton kimberlites in Riley County, Kansas, with gravity data rogers

David, Hernandez Uribe, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, A revised model for the subduction of oceanic crust: a combined Monte Carlo analysis and phase equilibria modelling approach


2017

John Allard, The University of Montana, Dillon, MT to present Geologic Evolution of the Gulf of California near Mulgeg, Baja California Sur: Results from Baja Basins NSF-REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates)

Hanna F. Cohen, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI to present Evaluating the Effects of Fluid NaCl and KCl Concentrations on Reaction Rate, Major Cation Composition, and Cation Ordering during High-Temperature Dolomitization Experiments

Karyn DeFranco, University of Delaware, Newark, DE to present Radionuclide Profiles and Carbon Accrual in Permafrost Soil at Toolik Lake, Alaska

Kayleigh Harvey, University of Maryland, College Park, MD to present Origin of exotic blocks in the Catalina Schist: implications for movement along the subduction interface

Anthony A Macias, California State University-Fullerton, Santa Ana, CA to present Paleoceanographic Changes across the Permian-Triassic Interval along the Northwestern Margin of Pangea: A Case Study from Opal Creek, Alberta, Canada

Nicholas Meszaros, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN to present Petrogenesis of Igneous Rocks in th e Eminence Knobs Region: southwestern St. Francois Mountians, Missouri

Ross A. Salerno, Washington State University, Pullman, WA to present generation and rapid evolution of Neoarchean crust in the Vermilion Granitic Complex, Superior province of Northern Minnesota

David Hernández Uribe, Colorado School of Mines, Lakewood, CO to present A comparison between zircon-rutile thermometry of eclogites: Implications for T-t evolution of the North Qaidam UHP terrane, China
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