May 14, 2018

Spring 2018 Virtual Poster Showcase: Announcing the Winners!

Posted by AGU Career Center

The 2018 Spring Virtual Poster Showcase brought students from high school to graduate school, and from near and far! We had 67 excellent presenters from countries around the world showcasing their hard work and contribution to the fields of earth and space science. Presenters were able to learn about their peers’ research while also strengthening and/or gaining new skills such as presenting, communicating, critically-thinking, and the ability to peer-review scientific work!

Without further ado, it is time to announce the winners of the showcase competition. Nine students were chosen from graduate, undergraduate, and high school sections. All nine lead authors will receive a plaque and a complimentary AGU membership for 2019. As the first place winners of the graduate and undergraduate showcases, Nick Richmond and Andy Kasun will get to redeem one of our student travel grants next year so that they can attend the 2019 AGU Fall meeting. We will also pay for their meeting registration. Congratulations, Nick and Andy!

Finally, the organizers of the Virtual Poster Showcase would like to thank all the student presenters and expert judges who made such an excellent showcase possible. We hope to see you next time!

Graduate Showcase Awardees

First place goes to Nick Richmond, a master’s student from University of Maine, whose project was titled “3D Bedrock Channel Evolution with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Coupled to a Finite Element Earth.”  Poster (PDF) | Video

Second place goes to Veronica Ruiz-Xomchuk, a Ph.D. student from Texas A&M University, for her work entitled “Tracing Variability in the Budget Balance of Bottom Water Dissolved Oxygen In the Texas-Louisiana Shelf.”  Poster (PDF) | Video

Third place goes to Daniel Beverly, a PhD student from University of Wyoming for his project entitled “Blame it on the Moon: How Vegetation Responded to the 2017 Solar Eclipse.” Poster (PDF) | Video

Honorable Mention: Sarah Hall, master’s student from Texas A&M University, for her work entitled “Analysis of Symbiodinium Adaptations Within Coral in Relation to Earth’s Increasing Ocean Temperatures. Poster (PDF) | Video

Undergraduate Showcase Awardees

First place goes to Andy Kasun, a senior from Northland College, whose project was titled “Measuring Geomorphological Changes from Recent Flood Events in North Fish Creek, Wisconsin.”  Poster (PDF) | Video

Second place goes to Zane Grissett, a sophomore from University of Rhode Island, for his work entitled “An ~1000 year Sedimentary Record of Past High-Energy Wave Events From Conanicut Island, Rhode Island, USA.” Poster (PDF) | Video

Third place goes to Cora Watts, a senior from University of British Columbia, for her project entitled “Rotavation of Eurasian Watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) and its Impact on Internal Phosphorus Loading in Wood Lake, BC.” Poster (PDF)| Video

Honorable Mention: Marisa Ulman, a senior student from Northland College, for her work entitled “Quantifying the Distribution of Phosphorus Fractions in Sediment of Chequamegon Bay, Lake Superior.” Poster (PDF) | Video

High School Showcase Awardees

First place goes to Liam Nolan, a senior from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, whose project was titled “A Statistical Tool for Black Hole Location.”

Second place goes to Zulekha Tasneem, a senior student from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, for her work entitled “The Effect of Heavy Metals on Cephae cephaeand Chrysaora chesapeakei Polyps Metabolic Rates.”

Third place goes to Sean Clancy, a senior student from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, for his project entitled “The Effect of Different Shoreline Designs on Beach Erosion and Flooding.”

Honorable Mention: Rachel Ma, a senior student from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, for her work entitled “Refining Models of Atmospheric Diatomic Oxygen Using Stellar Occultation.”

Fall 2018 Virtual Poster Showcase Dates

If you missed out on this time around, there is still time to participate in the Fall Virtual Poster Showcase.  Though we won’t open for abstract submissions until 3 July, you can start preparing now.

  • Students: Sign up to receive VPS updates that way you’ll know as soon as the next showcase opens.
  • Faculty and internship supervisors: learn how you can incorporate Virtual Poster Showcase into your curriculum, student fieldwork or internships. The Spring showcase included two classes from different institutions.  VPS can be a great way to take your curriculum beyond the classroom. Get in touch with us to find out more.
  • Start thinking about your abstract.   Your submission could involve research you did this spring or sharing the results from summer field work.  For those participating in REUs, this is a great way to share your experience. In the past, On the Job has provided some tips on writing your abstract, and we’ll be providing even more resources this Fall to help you on your path.

Congratulations once again to the winners of the Spring Virtual Poster Showcase!  We hope that you will join us this Fall!

Nathaniel Janick is the Career Services Coordinator at the American Geophysical Union.