EESI Environmental Scholars Announced
Six graduate students who are pursuing research in interdisciplinary environmental sciences have been selected as EESI Environmental Scholars for the 2008-09 academic year.
The EESI Environmental Scholar is a competitive award and is based on a student’s academic record, research interests and faculty recommendations.
The 2008-09 EESI Environmental Scholars are:
Liza Diaz, a current Master’s student in the Department of Meteorology and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico. Diaz is interested in tropical meteorology and climate change. She will be working on the analysis and interpretation of North American CO 2 data.
Venkata Pradeep Indraka, a current Ph.D. student in Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering and a graduate of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, India. Indraka’s research has both computational and experimental components in the investigation of the use of atmospheric CO 2 as a photocatalyst to produce renewable carbon feedstocks.
Lindsey Interlante, a new Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography who earned her undergraduate degree at The College of New Jersey and her Master’s in public administration at the University of Delaware.
Christiana Pollack, a new Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography who attended Penn State as an undergraduate and earned a Master’s in energy and environmental analysis at Boston University.
Xuhua Shi, a current Master’s student in the Department of Geosciences who earned a Master’s in Structural Geology from the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research spans the disciplines of paleoclimate and tectonics as he intends to test the hypothesis that the expansion of the Tibetan Plateau was accomplished through the outward flow of weak lower crust.
Roman Tonkonojenkov, a current Ph.D. student in the Department of Geosciences and a graduate of York University, Ontario, Canada. Tonkonojenkov is interested in Earth system ecology and more specifically, using observations of atmospheric oxygen to understand the sensitivity of the terrestrial carbon cycle and ocean circulation.
EESI Environmental Scholars receive tuition waivers and stipends. The criteria for selection include students who work across environmental disciplines and who work with more than one advisor; students who increase the diversity of the college; and students who are interested in using 3D visualization technologies in their research.
Scholars are selected by the EESI Advisory Committee which includes EESI Director Susan Brantley, Richard Alley, Andrew Carleton, Jenni Evans, Amy Glasmeier, Dave Pollard and Alan Taylor.