UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS


there was no looking back. I became a teaching assistant for several classes. I was selected to present my research at the Geological Society of America conference in Seattle and to legislators at the Capitol in St. Paul. Being able to apply what I have learned in the classroom to the real world and being able to share with others the knowledge I have learned confirmed my pursuit of geoscience. It wasn’t just that I was passionately interested in the science. I believe the geosci- ences are critical to understanding, protecting and reshaping our changing environment. I immersed myself in all of my geoscience courses. After taking hydrogeology, geochemistry, and watershed, water became a passion.


What could be better than helping my state, my country,


the world, by protecting clean water? Currently, my goal is to be able to apply my knowledge, my skills, and my passion as a hydrologist. Looking down this career path now opening up ahead of me, I can see me becoming a mentor to others interested in the field, become a resource people can reach out to, and help others see how critical it is that talented people work in the geosciences. And maybe even eventually, I can nudge along some other little kid with a pocket full of pebbles.


Kevin Hatton, SA-9807 SUNY-Stony Brook, NE Section I first became interested in geology


while away at a Boy Scout summer camp in Rhode Island. One of the troop leaders pointed out the various rock types and landforms while out on a hike. He gave me a baseball sized chunk of quartz from


a large vein and that has since become the foundation of my collection. I did not know it, but a fire started in my heart that would remain an ember for another eight years.


I went through middle school and high school collecting


more rocks on trips and adventures that I took, but I still only considered it a hobby. When high school came to an end, I went with the class I enjoyed most recently, physics, as my major. After one semester I had the opportunity to take an extra class, and I saw that geology was an option. I took the course and sealed my fate. My geology professor noticed my joy when answering questions or completing labs and informed me of an NSF program, GEOCORE at the school. From there I was hooked. I can remember the feeling of relief and happiness when I realized I wouldn’t need to search anymore: I had found what made me happy. My time at Suffolk County Community College helped me find that ember within me and helped it grow to a hearty campfire. I call it a campfire because I finally felt like I had friends with the same passion and curiosity as me as well as constantly hearing terrible puns and bad jokes. It was with these friends that I embarked on my first geologic adventure, to Big Brook Park in New Jersey (where all the fossils in my collection are sourced, oddly enough.)


My time at Suffolk came to an end, but with every ending


there is a new beginning. I got accepted into another program at my next institution, Stony Brook University, where I was


“


able to conduct geophysical research during the summer. After the program ended, I migrated into the Stable Isotope Geochemistry laboratory where my campfire grew into a roar- ing inferno. I have been working there ever since. My time is spent cleaning beakers, preparing samples, organizing lab equipment and analyzing samples by laser ablation. I have found ages for fluorite and carbonate samples as well as cre- ating isotopic maps of samples. This is truly amazing work and every day I am excited to do more. I have even started my own research project on dating fossilized wood samples from the Turkana basin to create better constraints on the time interval during which protohumans were evolving in the region. This is an amazing project to be working on and I should have results in time to produce a poster for my school’s undergraduate research symposium.


I never would have thought that what I did as a hobby


could be a career that has so many opportunities. Through Stony Brook I have not only started my own research but was invited to attend my first geology conference, the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference (NEIGC) (which was one of the best weekends of my life). I have also had the opportunity to attend many lectures from professors in related fields and attend many meetings and operations of workers in geologi- cal companies.


It took many years, but the passion inside me for geology


only needed someone to help fan the flames. For that I will be forever grateful to Sean Tvelia and Darryl Butkos, who were my first geology professors. They reached out to me about getting more involved with geology and I could only hope to be as inviting and resourceful as they were to me.


Kelsey Hewett, SA-8977 Wayne State University, MI – MI Section Growing up I was a curious child who


was full of questions. Much to my mom’s chagrin, I followed up every inquiry with “why?” That young kid has since grown up with the same level of curiosity. Luckily,


I had a family which challenged me to answer my own ques- tions. But there was still one question I couldn’t answer until recently, why geology?


A career as a geologist is something that has occurred rather


recently for me. It wasn’t until two years ago that I discovered that I had found my calling. Reflecting on my memories, it’s hard to ignore the strong influences that led to where I am now. Being surrounded by a family of scientists, researchers, and educators, I was exposed at an early age to an environment that encouraged me to dare to dream. Some people know at a young age what their lifelong career will be; I was not one of those lucky few. I never collected rocks along the shorelines of one of the Great Lakes with my family, nor did I have a bookshelf collection of mineral specimens. While there were no childhood memories that were directly related to the field of geology, I was able to gain exposure to many of the sciences.


My time at Suffolk County Community College helped me find that ember within me and helped it grow to a hearty campfire. I call it a campfire because I finally felt like I had friends with the same passion and curiosity as me as well as constantly hearing terrible puns and bad jokes.


www.aipg.org Jul.Aug.Sep 2019 • TPG 21


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64