Two students pursuing degrees in sustainable Earth systems sciences (SESS) are among the six current and former University of Texas at Dallas students selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its 2024 Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
Earth sciences students Madigan Blake BS’23 and Isaac Rangel-Landeros BS’23 represent the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in the highly competitive fellowship program, which provides a stipend and tuition support for students who will pursue or already are pursuing graduate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“Having two GRFP recipients in our department reflects the amazing quality of our students here at UT Dallas and indicates our renewed department is gaining higher recognition across the broader field of research and education in Earth and environmental sciences,” said Dr. David Lumley, SESS department head and the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair in Geophysics. “In this NSF GRFP round, SESS outperformed academic colleagues like UT Austin and Stanford University on an absolute and per-capita award basis.”
In addition to winning these fellowships, Blake and Rangel-Landeros are also Eugene McDermott Graduate Fellows. The McDermott endowment adds up to $10,000 in discretionary research funding to the NSF award, which includes an annual stipend of $37,000 and a cost-of-education allowance of $16,000.
“Having two GRFP recipients in our department reflects the amazing quality of our students here at UT Dallas and indicates our renewed department is gaining higher recognition across the broader field of research and education in Earth and environmental sciences.”
Dr. David Lumley, head of the Department of Sustainable Earth Systems Sciences and the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair in Geophysics
A first-generation student and National Merit Scholar, Blake is pursuing her doctorate with mentor and SESS assistant professor Dr. Kristina Butler as she researches lithium enrichment mechanisms of brines in the Alberta Basin, a petroleum-rich sedimentary basin in Canada. Blake hopes to make the case for lithium exploration in North America and to characterize better current lithium resources, which are essential for many types of batteries and electric vehicles and for the transition to clean energy.
In the long term, she hopes to use her expertise in lithium as a research scientist working on critical mineral resources at a national lab.
“I’m really passionate about combining my love for research with contributing to our current sustainable energy transition,” Blake said.
Butler, who led a two-month virtual workshop on applying for the GRFP, said, “I am ecstatic Madigan decided to stay at UTD to work with my group. Madigan and Isaac are among the best examples of excellence coming out of the sustainable Earth systems sciences major.”
Rangel-Landeros is a master’s student working with SESS assistant professor Dr. Zachary Sickmann in Sickmann’s sedLAB. Rangel-Landeros will be investigating the tectonic history of the Texas Panhandle and the broader Southern High Plains region, which has been on the periphery of several major tectonic events in the geologic history of North America. Using field observations and lab analyses, he hopes to understand how these events were recorded in Permian- to Miocene-aged sedimentary rocks preserved in Caprock Canyons and Palo Duro Canyon state parks.
Rangel-Landeros will use his findings to help develop new bilingual field courses and exhibits to expand access to public natural sciences in Texas.
“My long-term goal is eventually to expand into my own research as a university professor and study the tectonic history of Mexico and other parts of the Western U.S., while utilizing my ability to communicate in multiple languages to increase science outreach,” he said.
In the meantime, Rangel-Landeros said his next step will be to gain some experience in the energy industry.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Created in 1951, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is the nation’s oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM fields. This year, 2,037 awards were offered from a pool of approximately 14,000 applicants. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000 and a cost-of-education allowance of $16,000.
Four recent UT Dallas alums also received GRFP awards this year:
Alexander N. Chin BS’24, a Collegium V Honors graduate, earned his degree in computer science and worked in the NeuroSpinCompute Laboratory on neuromorphic computing and hardware security with spintronics. He will join the Integrated Nano Computing Lab at UT Austin as an electrical and computer engineering doctoral student this fall.
Sarah Rose Evans BS’23 will join Duke University as a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering this fall. As an electrical engineering undergraduate at UTD, she worked as a research assistant in two different research groups: in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to lower the contact resistance of two-dimensional semiconductor-metal contacts and in the NeuroSpinCompute Laboratory to use ferromagnetic devices to improve existing memory architectures.
Sarah G. Fisher BS’22 earned her degree in chemistry from UT Dallas. She is a second-year chemistry PhD candidate at Texas A&M University, where she develops environmentally benign polymer nanocomposite coatings for fire retardant and gas barrier applications.
Tristan Linn BS’24, a Collegium V Honors graduate, earned his degree in mechanical engineering. He will join the Stanford University School of Engineering as a master’s student this fall. He plans to focus his research on soft actuators and humanoid biorobotics.