UNM student Michael Petronis was recently awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists.
Each year, the society selects eight outstanding earth science students nationwide to receive the award.
Petronis, a doctoral student in geology and geophysics, was one of only three to receive a $2,000 scholarship other recipients were awarded $1,250.
The society is a national organization of more than 1,300 self-employed geologists, geophysicists and engineers, who focus on domestic energy exploration and development.
Applicants were selected from upper-division, graduate and doctoral students in any field of earth science.
"Receiving the SIPES scholarship was quite a surprise," Petronis said.
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"This award reflects positively on the department in that it demonstrates that Earth and Planetary Sciences is fostering high quality, motivated students that are receiving national recognition for their accomplishments," Petronis said.
John Geissman, Petronis' faculty advisor, said he is glad the society selected Petronis.
"He is a very capable individual and very competent," Geissman said.
Petronis said the scholarship will be used for partial funding in geologic field mapping in the Lucero Uplift - a region between the Colorado Plateau and Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico.
Petronis said those maps will be available to anyone interested in the structure of the western margin of the Rio Grande Rift as a teaching aid in classrooms and in field-based geology or related science courses.
He said that a geologic map is one of the first steps toward a better understanding of groundwater flow from the plateau into the Albuquerque basin.
"A better understanding of the stratigraphy and structure of the Lucero Uplift will provide valuable insight into the hydrostratigraphy and groundwater flow from the Colorado Plateau into the Albuquerque Basin," Petronis said.
Geissman said he was appreciative that the society is supporting the mapping project and that it is just one example of many high-quality research projects in the department.
