Graduate Student Awards

The Department of Astronomy Graduate Student Awards (in Scholarship, Service, and Teaching) are awarded annually. Each selected student will receive a departmental award as well as a nomination for the College Award in that category. In 2021 we also recognized exceptional departmental service contributions as well as the older College and Departmental Awards.

Criteria

• Scholarship: Outstanding research publications, presentations at meetings, and scholarship awarded.

• Service: Attention to broader impacts and involvement in activities outside of academic responsibilities that benefit the department, university and the larger community.  For example, this student may represent graduate student interests on councils or committees, organize graduate student events, assist departmental recruitment, participate in K-12 outreach, etc.

• Teaching: Teaching or mentoring that goes above and beyond what is required; positive evaluations or other feedback from students, willingness to help junior graduate students, development of new course material or experiments, etc.

Year       Awards

2021      Scholarship: Alex Bixel

              Service: Ryan Keenan

              Teaching: Katrina Litke Marslender

              Group Service: Rachel Amaro, Samantha Scibelli, & Erin Maier (DEI Task Force

              Organizers)

              Group Service: Jeremy Dietrich & Ryan Boyden (Prospective Graduate Student Visit/

              Recruitment Organizers)

Past Department Award Winners:

2020      Scholarship:  Rixin Li

              Service:  Juan Nicolas Garavito Camargo

              Teaching:  Carolyn Raithel

2019      Scholarship:  Deborah Schmidt

              Service:  Christine O'Donnell

              Teaching:  Yifan Zhou

2018      Scholarship:  Carolyn Raithel

              Service:  Eckhart Spalding

              Teaching:  Melissa Halford

2017      Scholarship:  Rachel Smullen

              Service:  Eckhart Spalding

              Teaching:  Deborah Schmidt

2016      Scholarship:  Stephanie Sallum

              Service:  Ekta Patel

              Teaching:  Ya-Lin Wu

2015      Scholarship:  Evan Schneider

              Service:  Patrick Sheehan

              Teaching:  Youngmin Seo

2014      Scholarship:  K. Decker French

              Service:  Kate Follette

              Teaching:  Megan Kiminki

2013      Scholarship:  Jordan Stone

              Service:  Justin Spilker

              Teaching:  Brandon Swift

2012      Scholarship:  Ken Wong

              Service:  Megan Reiter

              Teaching:  Vanessa Bailey

2011      Mentor:  Kate Follette

             Scholar:  Andrew Skemer

             Service:  Johanna Teske

2009     Unavailable

2008     Mentor:  Wayne Schlingman

             Scholar:  Jennifer Donley

             Service:  Moire Prescott