The IAGC is happy to announce the recipients of the 2018 Student Research Grants, sponsored by Elsevier and the IAGC. Every year, we have many strong research proposals from students from around the world, and this year was no exception.  We received so many proposals this year that we had to expand the size of the our award selection committee!  This has become a very competitive award, with a funding rate of only 5% for 2018.  The success of these grantees demonstrates the extremely high caliber of their research.

The Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science is pleased to announce that Ph.D. student Masoomeh Kousehlar - "Sources and extent of toxic metal contamination of the atmosphere and soil in urban and industrial suburban settings" (advisor: E. Widom) has been awarded one of these prestigious awards.

Masoomeh obtained her bachelor's degree in geology and her master's degree in petrology from University of Tehran (Iran).  She uses a combination of geochemical and microscopy techniques to investigate the air pollution in urban and industrial areas.  Masoomeh is using tree bark and lichen as biomonitors.  She analyzes these samples for their elemental compositions and Sr, Nd, Pb isotopic ratios to identify and characterize the sources of air pollution in areas with limited environmental studies.  She believes that identifying the sources and extent of air pollution is crucial for implementing effective controlling strategies and lowering the risks.