Awards and Accolades

The interdisciplinary work of ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration brings together the brightest minds in astronomy and astrophysics, cosmology, geosciences, planetary sciences, exploration systems engineering and science education. Our award-winning faculty, post-docs, research scientists, graduate students, and undergraduate students are recognized internationally, nationally, and locally for their achievements. Learn about the latest academic award recipients and the awards our fabulous support staff have been honored with over the last few years by exploring the categories below. 

Academic Year 2022-2023

Claire Blaske
2022 Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Distinguished Undergraduate Award


 

Academic Year 2021-2022

Erin Alexander
Spring 2022 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Medalist


 

Claire Blaske
2022 Goldwater Scholar


 

Rose Ferreira
Awarded a 2022 Brooke Owens Fellowship

 

Kris Ganzel
Scholarship recipient from the Online Undergraduate Research Scholars (OURS) program

 

Megan McGroarty
Fall 2021 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Medalist
 


Emma Softich
Greeley Planetary Geology Scholarship

Academic Year 2020-2021

Cameron Helm, Megan Thomas, Liam Nolan, Cameron Reed, Elizabeth Chiffelle, and Christian Kroemer
Phi Beta Kappa Inductees

Jane Rector
Robert Dietz Field Camp Scholarship

Erin Alexander
Ravi DeFillippo Field Camp Scholarship

Jerri Moore
Richard W. Oldham Geology Field Camp Scholarship

Griffin Davis and Joseph Powell
Geology Field Camp Scholarships
 

Claire Blaske
Dwornik Honorable Mention for Undergraduate Oral Presentation at the 2021 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference


 

Junehyoung Jeon
Spring 2021 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Medalist

 

Delondrae Carter
AAS Chambliss Student Poster Award for American Astronomical Society Honorable Mention

 

Sarah Braunisch
Fall 2020 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Medalist


 

Delondrae Carter
2020 Honorable Mention USRA Distinguished Undergraduate Award



 

Academic Year 2019-2020

Lily Whitler
2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

 

Delondrae Carter
2020 Goldwater Scholarship
 



Madeline Marquardt
2020 Nininger Student Travel Award

Academic Year 2022-2023

Jessica Bersson
M. Lee Allison Scholarship awarded through the Arizona Geological Society


 

Megan Householder
NASA FINESST Award
 


 

Madison Borrell
Awarded an Amelia Earhart Fellowship and a Chateaubriand Fellowship


Justin Hom
Awarded a 2022-2023 Graduate College Completion Fellowship

 

Academic Year 2021-2022

Jessie Bersson
Selected to join American Geophysical Union (AGU)'s 2022/2023 Voices for Science Program



Mansi Padave and Mara Karageozian
2022 Vivian Ford Graduate Fellowships

Srinidhi Ravi, Rachel Bruyere, Jacqueline Giblin, Jayanth Serla, Stephanie Sparks
2022 Summer Exploration Graduate (SEG) Fellowships

Kevin Trinh, Samuel Courville, Srinidhi Ravi, Aditya Khuller, Andrea Distel
2022 Nininger Travel Award recipients

Delondrae Carter
Graduate College Interdisciplinary Enrichment Fellowship

 

Alejandro Olvera and Talia Saeid
Presidents Graduate Assistantship

Academic Year 2020-2021

Soumya Ray 
2020 Nininger Meteorite Award Honorable Mention 


 

Jackie Giblin and Jessie Bersson
Awarded Community Foundation for Southwest Washington (CFSWW) Kleinman Grants




Vince Debes, Mrudula Gopal Krishna, Saira Hamid, Felix Ishimwe, Austin Ware
2021 Summer Exploration Graduate (SEG) Fellowships

Marah Brinjikji, John Malloy, Alexandra Pye, Lindsey Wiser
2021 Summer Exploration Graduate (SEG) Research Awards

Alexa Drew and Samuel Courville
First-Year Graduate Fellowships

Madison Borelli, Jasmine Garani, Kevin Trinh, Qian Yuan
Nininger Student Travel Awards

Saira Hamid
2021 National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship



Morgan Chidester and Ebraheem Farag
AAS Chambliss Student Poster Award for American Astronomical Society Honorable Mentions

Jisoo Kim and Luisa Orci Fernandez
2020-21 ASU Graduate College Interdisciplinary Enrichment Fellowships

Gregory Vance and Emily Zawacki
2020-21 ASU Graduate College Completion Fellowships

Jessica Bersson, Saira Hamid, Marisol Juarez Rivera, and Tyler McCabe
2020-21 Graduate College Fellowships

Lindsay Berkhout, Christopher Dupuis, Jessica Bersson, Emma Blackwell, Logan “Wren” Raming and Qian Yuan
2020-21 School of Earth and Space Exploration Summer Exploration Graduate Fellowships

Academic Year 2019-2020

Santosh Harish and Mansi Padave
2020 Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Awards by the American Astronomical Society

Emilie Dunham
2020 51 Pegasi b Fellowship in Planetary Astronomy from the Heising-Simons Foundation

 

Paul Horton
2020 NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities fellowship

 


Grace Carlson, Tyler Richey-Yowell and Dan Sullivan
2020 NASA FINESST awards

Soumya Ray, Vishaal Singh, and Zachary Torrano
2020 Nininger Student Travel Awards
 

Kristen Whitney
2020 Babbitt Dissertation Fellowship from the Lincoln Land Policy Institute

 

Santosh Harish
2020 AAS Chambliss Astronomy Achievement award


 

Kyle Massingill
2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics



Academic Year 2018-2019

Mansi Padave
SESE Summer Exploration Fellowship


Stephanie Sparks
2019 American Geosciences Institute Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship


 

Tyler Cox
American Astronomical Society 2019 Chambliss Student Achievement Award



Sierra Ferguson, Nivedita Mahesh, Zachary Torrano, and Joseph Zalesky
Inaugural Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Program


Academic Year 2017-2018

Soumya Ray 
Awarded the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship
 


Wren Raming and Eric Escoto
2018 National Science Foundation graduate fellowship
 

Daniel Dunlap
2018 Dwornik award at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference


Mary Schultz
2017 William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellowship from The American Geosciences Institute

Aleisha Johnson, Daniel Dunlap, Mostafa Khoshmanesh, and Travis Gabriel
2017 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowships

Academic Year 2020-2021

Chris Mead (lead author), Geoffrey Bruce, Wendy Taylor and Steven Semken

Lead author on the National Association of Geoscience Teachers Journal of Geoscience Education 2020 Outstanding Paper Award. Additional School of Earth and Space Exploration authors include Geoffrey Bruce, Wendy Taylor, Steven Semken and Ariel D. Anbar.
 

Carver Bierson
AGU 2020 Study of Earth’s Deep Interior Section Award for Graduate Research



 

Academic Year 2017-2018

Melodie Kao
2018 NASA Hubble fellowship


Academic Year 2016-2017

Adam Beardsley
2017 National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship

Academic Year 2022-2023

Ariel Anbar
AGU’s 2022 Biogeosciences Section and Carl Sagan Lecture recipient


 

Academic Year 2021-2022

Rhonda Stroud
Selected as a Microanalysis Society (MAS) Fellow 2022 “For outstanding leadership and sustained contributions to analytical microscopy of extraterrestrial materials”


 

Daniel Jacobs
Selected for the prestigious NSF CAREER award


 

Hilairy Hartnett
2022 John Martin Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)


 

Ramon Arrowsmith
2022 Alumni Association's Founders' Day Faculty Service Achievement Award


 

Kip Hodges
Elected to the newest class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows


 

Enrique Vivoni
Elected to the newest class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows
 


 

Peter Buseck
Center for Meteorite Studies is named the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies for acclaimed researcher, Peter Buseck


 

Lindy Elkins-Tanton
Named Regents Professor by the Arizona Board of Regents for 2022


 

Christy Till
Appointed to the first cohort of Academy Fellows for the AGU LANDInG Academy, a two-year professional development program for current and aspiring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leaders in the Earth and space sciences
 

Sara Walker
Recipient of the Stanley L. Miller Early Career Award of the International Society of the Study of the Origin of Life


 

Peter Buseck
2021 Recipient of the David Sinclair Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR)


 

Ariel Anbar
Elected as an American Geophysical Union (AGU) fellow


Academic Year 2020-2021

Sumner Starrfield
Elected to the Steering Committee of the International Astrophysical Union Division G: Stars and Stellar Physics

 

Craig Hardgrove
Advisor to Team AURORA winner of NASA's Glenn Research Center's University Student Design Challenge (with undergraduate student Nicole Swatton of Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering)
 

Lindy Elkins-Tanton
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

 

Mini Wadhwa
Appointed as the Mars Sample Return program scientist


Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert
Honored by the International Center for Deep Life Investigation with the 2020 SiYan Ocean Emerging Leader award


 

Mini Wadhwa
Honored with the title Geochemistry Fellow by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry

 

Kelin Whipple
2021 ASU Graduate College Outstanding Faculty Mentor in the category of Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor

 

Mini Wadhwa
2021 National Academy of Sciences' J. Lawrence Smith Medal


 

Ramon Arrowsmith
2020 AGU Paul Silver Award for Outstanding Scientific Service (Geodesy, Seismology, and Tectonophysics)

 

Mark Robinson
2020 Michael J. Wargo Exploration Science Award by NASA SSERVI, for his significant contribution to the integration of exploration and planetary science throughout his career
 

Ariel Anbar
GSA 2020 Arthur L. Day medal in recognition of his outstanding research contributions, mentoring for generations of students, and vigorous promotion of science in the public sphere

 

Academic Year 2019-2020
 

Philip Christensen
Selected to co-chair the NAS 2023-2032 Decadal Survey on Planetary Science and Astrobiology

 

Sara Imari Walker
2020 Human Frontier Science Program award

National Institute of Health Challenge Prize for Innovation for the “Integrated Discovery Chemputer Towards Addiction-Free Opiates"
 

Sumner Starrfield and Anne Cowley (Emerita)
Elected in 2020 to the first class of the American Astronomical Society Fellows
 

Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert
2020 L’Oréal UNESCO for Women in Science Rising Talent Award

 

Lindy Elkins-Tanton
National Academy of Sciences 2020 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship


 

Mini Wadhwa
Elected an American Geophysical Union Fellow



Christy Till
Awarded the 2019 Early Career Award from Geological Society of America


 

Kelin Whipple
2019 American Geophysical Union G.K. Gilbert Award



Academic Year 2018-2019

Peter Buseck
2019 Roebling Medal from the Mineralogical Society of America


 

Everett Shock
2019 Geochemistry Division Medal from the American Chemical Society


 

Ariel Anbar
2019 European Science Innovation Award from the European Association of Geochemistry


 

Evan Scannapieco
2019 Dr. Manual Servin Faculty Award from ASU


 

Phil Christensen
2018 Fred Whipple Award for outstanding contributions to planetary science


 

Steve Reynolds
Awarded the rank of ASU President’s Professor, one of the university’s most prestigious faculty honors


 

Christy Till
Elected Secretary of AGU’s Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology section


 


 

Ariel Anbar
Inaugural 2017 Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Teaching Innovators” award

Academic Year 2021-2022

Sheri Klug Boonstra
Appointed to the National Academies committee to address the topic of “Building a Foundation for Assessing the Health and Vitality of the Science Mission Directorate’s Research Communities" ​for NASA
 

Academic Year 2020-2021

Sheri Klug Boonstra
AGU 2020 Excellence in Earth and Space Science Education award


 

Academic Year 2018-2019

Debbie Garcia
2019 College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) Western Region HR Excellence Award

Since its inception in 2010, the Exploration Fellowship program has launched many Fellows to tenure-track or permanent research positions following their fellowships. Read about the research interests of current Fellows below.

Luiza Maria Aparecido (2020-2023)

Ph.D., Texas A&M

How much is shade worth? Mitigating the urban heat island through Earth observation and smarter green infrastructure

Alan Jackson (2019-2022)

Ph.D., University of Cambridge

Terrestrial Planet Formation at Home and Abroad

Anna Grau (2018-2021)

Ph.D., University of British Columbia

A First Detailed Characterization of the Glacial and Subglacial Environment of Early Mars

Since its inception in 2010, the Exploration Fellowship program has launched many Fellows to tenure-track or permanent research positions following their fellowships. Read about the research interests of former Fellows below.

Joseph O'Rourke (2017-2020) Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

Implications of Core/Mantle Miscibility for the Accretion of Earth and the Evolution of Super-Earth Exoplanets
Charlene Estrada (2016-2019)
Faculty, South Mountain Community College
Characterization and Early Transformation of Microfossils at Mineral Surfaces through Deep Time

 Ajay Limaye (2018-2019)

Assistant Professor, University of Virginia

Linking Meandering River Deposits to an Ancient Surface Environment on Mars
Cayman Unterborn (2016-2018)
Postdoctoral Research Scientist, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
From Star to Stone: Building an Internally Self-Consistent and Open-Source Terrestrial Planet Builder for Exploring Extrasolar Habitability
Karen Pardos Olsen (2015-2018)
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Arizona
Interstellar Gas Conditions at High Redshift; Modeling [CII] and CO Line Emission
Sarah Cichy (2014-2016)
Senior Research Scientist, University of Potsdam
Towards an Eruption-Geospeedometer: Diffusive Lithium Isotope Fractionation During Degassing and Crystal Growth
Harmony Colella (2014-2016)
Moore Foundation Fellow, UC-Berkeley and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Investigation of Complex Fault Interactions with a Physics-Based Earthquake Simulator & Qualitative Assessment of Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Monica Palta (2014-2016)
Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies and Science, Pace Universit
Linking Riverine-Wetland Hydrogeomorphic and Biogeochemical Modeling in Urban and Natural Reaches of the Salt River
Adam Forte (2013-2015)
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University
Bridging the Gap Between Geomorphology and Stratigraphy with Detrital Thermo- and Geochronology: The Influence of Surface Processes on the Detrital Zircon Record
Anand Thirumalai (2013-2015)
Assistant Professor, DigiPen Institute of Technology
Wolf-Rayet Stars - A Magneto-Dusty Demise
Anne Pommier (2012-2014)
Assistant Professor
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Univ. California, San Diego
High Pressure Measurements of Silicate Melt Viscosity: Implications for Magma Ocean Dynamics and Time Evolution
Zhenya Zheng (2012-2014)
Research Professor
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, CAS (China)
Co-evolution of Galaxies and Their Central Black Holes
Lauren Edgar (2012-2014)
Research Geologist
Astrogeology Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Evaluating the Magnitude of Erosive Processes at Gale Crater, Mars
Ed Nissen (2011-2012)
Associate Professor
School of Earth and Ocean Sciences
University of Victoria
Rapid Collection of Topographic Data from UAVs: Applications for Earthquake Faulting and Earth Surface Processes
Jordan Okie (2011-2012)
Assistant Research Professor
School of Earth and Space Exploration

Arizona State University
Thermodynamic and Kinetic Constraints on Metabolic Diversity: Quantifying the Biogeochemical Niche Space of Life
Soma De (2010-2013)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cosmology Research Group
Institute for Astronomy
ETH Zurich
SNe 1a Light Curves; Martian Atmosphere; Polarization spectra of cosmic microwave background
Briony Horgan (2010-2012)
Associate Professor
Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Purdue University
Non-Crystalline Weathering Products on Mars
Melissa Morris (2010-2011)
Associate Professor
Dept. of Physics
State University of New York (SUNY)
Evaporation Histories of Chondrules (nebula shocks)
Loÿc Vanderkluysen (2010-2013)
Associate Professor
Dept. of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science
Drexel University
Fluids and Dynamics LUSI Mud Volcano
Hua Wang (2010-2011) In-Situ Measurement of Shear Stress and Chemical Species in Hotsprings