Recently in Member Awards and Recognitions Category

The Geoscience Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research is establishing an annual award to highlight the importance of mentoring undergraduate research activities.


Eligibility: All Geoscience faculty involved in mentoring undergraduate research.

Prize: $500 along with a year-long CUR membership.

Expectations of Awardee: Short presentation when prize is awarded during a GeoCUR  gathering at GSA.


Award Citation
The Geosciences division of CUR annually recognizes an individual who serves as a role model for productive and transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships and for maintaining a sustained and innovative approach to the enterprise of undergraduate research.


Evidence of transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships include: leadership in fostering and sustaining the undergraduate research enterprise, student-mentor collaborations culminating in presentations at national or regional meetings and/or publication with student co-authors in peer-reviewed journals, and innovative approaches to involving undergraduates in research experiences incorporating research activities into the classroom and service learning.


Application Process


Nomination (including self nomination) materials: A two-page detailed narrative exploring how the candidate meets the criteria of the award, up to five-page CV that is focused on interactions with students, and five letters of support (three from former students). Application remains on file for three years.


Send materials electronically to the chair of award committee (Dan Brabander, dbraband@wellesley.edu) by June 15, 2012. For citation and podcast from last year's winner, see this page.



Many of our GeoCUR members have received awards and recognitions from their institutions, professional associations, and the greater community. If you have received one of these such awards, please email (guertin@psu.edu) and we will post the announcement.

2010
  • Chris Kim - Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (citation)
  • Anne Egger - Stanford's School of Earth Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Meagen Pollock - featured in AAC&U News article titled "A Creative Adventure": Undergraduate Research at the College of Wooster (article)
  • Lydia Fox - Named first Director of Undergraduate Research at University of the Pacific (press release)
  • Dan Brabander - Pinanski Prize Winner (citation)

2009
  • Lydia Fox - University of the Pacific Faye & Alex G. Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award
  • Laura Guertin - Penn State Brandywine Undergraduate Research Mentor Award
  • Laura Guertin - The Geological Society of America's Biggs Earth Science Teaching Award
  • Pat Manley - Nominated as Middlebury College Faculty Women of the Year
  • Jeff Marshall - Appointed as Cal Poly Pomona Campus Coordinator for Undergraduate Research (U.R. Bronco)
  • Kathy Surpless - Trinity University Junior Faculty Distinguished Teaching and Research Award
  • Kathy Surpless - NSF CAREER Award (#0846695), Testing Models of Cretaceous Cordilleran Paleogeography: An Integrated Provenance Study of Four Basins

2008
  • Laura Guertin - U.S. Congressional Citation for civic and community engagement

2007
  • Jeff Marshall - Cal Poly Pomona Provost's Teacher-Scholar Award

2006
  • Laura Guertin - Penn State University George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching

2005
  • Laura Guertin - Penn State Commonwealth College Award for Teaching Excellence
  • Pat Manley - VASE inductee (Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering)

2004
  • Laura Guertin - Penn State Brandywine Women's Commission Woman of the Year
  • Pat Manley - Association of Women Geoscientists Outstanding Educator

1998
  • Pat Manley - Middlebury College Faculty Women of the Year