Tshering Lama Sherpa Wins Microscopy Grant for Innovative Geoscience
Research
Boulder, CO, USA: The Geological Society of America, in partnership with
the Zeiss Group, is pleased to announce that Tshering Lama Sherpa is the
winner of the first GSA/Zeiss Research Grant
award for 2020. Sherpa, who is a first-year Ph.D. student at the University
of Arizona, advised by Dr. Peter DeCelles, won for a research proposal
titled: "Elucidating the tectonic history of the western Nepalese Himalaya
using in-situ monazite petrochronology." This is a relatively novel method
combining geochronology and geochemistry using mass spectrometry.
Sherpa’s current research area covers a transect that extends through the
entire breadth of the Dadeldhura klippe in western Nepal. Sherpa will use
high resolution petrochronology analyses involving light and electron
microscopy and microanalytics. It will then integrate that data with
LA-ICP-MS, EPMA and nanoSIMS systems to detect thrusting events and
associated metamorphism.
According to Sherpa, "My project involving optical and ion beam microscopy
opens up a new avenue for future work that could use micro- and nano-scale
analyses of minerals to potentially approach macro-scale problems of
Himalayan and global tectono-climatic interactions."
The GSA/Zeiss Research Grant provides up to US$10,000 to be used for
innovative microscopy in geoscience projects. Zeiss will also provide
access to technology and expertise with the instrumentation.
This opportunity was open to GSA-member master’s or Ph.D. students,
post-doctoral researchers, or early career researchers (most recent degree
completed within the last five years), at an institution in North or
Central America.
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aspiring to foster future generations of scientists.
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