Specialized Research Grants
Recipients of special named awards are selected by the Committee on Research Grants from applicants to the graduate student research grants program. The committee considers all qualified applicants when selecting recipients for special awards.
The Gretchen L. Blechschmidt Award supports research by women interested in achieving a Ph.D. in the geological sciences and a career in academic research, especially in the fields of biostratigraphy and/or paleoceanography, and who have an interest in sequence stratigraphy analysis, particularly in conjunction with research into deep-sea sedimentology.
The aim of the John T. Dillon Alaska Research Award is to support research that addresses earth science problems particular to Alaska, especially field-based studies dealing with the structural and tectonic development, and those that include some aspect of geochronology (either Paleontologic or radiometric) to provide new age control for significant rock units in Alaska.
The Robert K. Fahnestock Memorial Award is made annually to the applicant with the best application in the field of sediment transport or related aspects of fluvial geomorphology.
The Lipman Research Award is to promote and support graduate research in volcanology and petrology.
The John Montagne Fund is awarded annually in support of research in the field of quaternary/geomorphology.
The Bruce L. "Biff" Reed Award is for graduate students pursuing studies in the tectonic and magmatic evolution of Alaska and also can fund other geologic research.
The Charles A. & June R.P. Ross Research Fund is awarded to support research projects for graduate students, post-graduate students, and post-doctorate researchers in the fields of biostratigraphy (including, but not limited to, fossil age dating and the study of evolutionary faunal successions), stratigraphy and stratigraphic correlation, paleogeography and paleobiogeography, interpreting past environments of deposition and their biological significance, and the integration of these research areas into better global understanding of (1) past plate motions (plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading), (2) past sea-level events, including their identification and ages, and/or (3) climate changes and effects of those climate changes on the earth's inhabitants through geologic time. There should be, over time, a balance of money among the awards across these various subject sub-field categories depending on the merit of the annual project proposals.
The Alexander Sisson Award supports research for students pursuing studies in Alaska and the Caribbean.
The Parke D. Snavely, Jr., Cascadia Research Award Fund provides support for field-oriented graduate student research that contributes to the understanding of the geologic processes and history of the Pacific Northwest convergent margin, or to the evaluation of its hazard or resource potential.
The Harold T. Stearns Fellowship Award is awarded annually in support of research on one or more aspects of the geology of Pacific Islands and of the circum-Pacific region.
The Alexander & Geraldine Wanek Fund is awarded annually to support research project dealing with coal and petroleum resources, mapping, and engineering geology, marine resources, petroleum economics, appraisal, and evaluation, and the geology of phosphate resources.