Descriptions of Graduate Awards

The Green Fund (Donor) has established, through the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc. (Foundation) multiple endowed funds to support students at the University of Maryland, College Park. The purpose of this Fund shall be to provide support of graduate fellowships for students working with faculty affiliated with the Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC). Candidates for the award are nominated by the faculty. Awardees are normally selected in early Fall by the Graduate Committee based on perceived quality of research and or service activities. The Green Fellowship is awarded annually to one or more students.

Outstanding Research Talk Awards are given to graduate students adjudged to have presented the best talks on Graduate Seminar Days in the prior academic year. Awardees are selected by the Graduate Committee in early Fall each year, based on faculty assessment of perceived quality of the research and presentation. The assessments are submitted immediately following the talks on each of the several Graduate Seminar Days. Three awards are given as follows: 1. M.S. category, 2. PhD pre-candidacy category, and 3. PhD post-candidacy category.

The Best Paper Award is presented annually to the graduate student whose paper, published in the peer reviewed literature, is judged by the Graduate Committee to be of highest quality. Nominations, consisting of the student name and PDF copy of the paper, should be submitted electronically to the Graduate Coordinator by the student’s advisor by 4 pm on September 1. Awardees are selected in early Fall of each year.

• The graduate student must have had a Geology Department advisor as his/her thesis or dissertation advisor at the time the main work in the paper was performed.
• The applicant must have been enrolled as a student at the University of Maryland College Park in the academic year prior to the September 1 deadline. Applicants who graduated during this period remain eligible for the award.
• Faculty are limited to one nomination, and no paper will be considered more than once.
• The nominee must be the first author.
• Only publications in the peer reviewed literature are considered.
• The paper must cover some aspect of Earth and planetary sciences.
• The paper must have been published in the year prior to September 1 deadline. (Published is defined as: "Made publicly available by the publishing company." This availability may be through the internet or on paper. Articles placed online by the publishing company before the official print date count as published.)

The Graduate Award for Excellence in Outreach recognizes demonstrated outstanding leadership by a graduate student with regard to outreach activities relevant to education in the Earth and planetary sciences. Activities that benefit groups that are underrepresented in the Earth and planetary sciences are especially encouraged. The award is presented each Fall for outreach activities in the prior academic year. The awardee is selected by the Graduate Committee. Candidates for the award may be self-nominated or nominated by a member of the faculty. Nomination packages should provide documentation of the activities performed and an explanation of the importance of the activities. Electronic nominations (a single pdf) should be received by the Graduate Coordinator by 4 pm September 1.