Undergrad-Awards

2026 Geography Spring Awards Lunch

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:42:17 +0000

2026 Geography Spring Awards Lunch Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 04/28/2026 - 10:42

On Friday, April 24th, the Geography Department celebrated the 2026 Spring Awards Lunch in the British and Irish Studies Room on the 5th Floor of the Norlin Library. This has been our 4th annual awards lunch. We celebrated the following awards:

Gilbert F. White Doctoral Summer Writing Award
John Pitlick Field Research Award
James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award
Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award
Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award
Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Graduate Part-time Instructor Award
Arctic Studies Certificate
GIS and Computational Science Certificate
Hydrology Certificate
A. David Hill Scholarship Award
DigitalGlobe Foundation Scott Smith Memorial Undergraduate Award
Mable B. Duncan Scholarship Award
Theodore C Myers Memorial Scholarship Award
2026 Mapathon winners

Our recipients were:

Emma Loizeaux (Gilbert F. White Doctoral Summer Writing Award)
Ethan Carr (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Hayes Hart-Thompson (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Emily Nagamoto (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Laine Sullivan (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Lauren Thomas (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Emma Tyrrell (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Josie Welsh (The John Pitlick Field Research Award)
Alek Berg (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Naomi Hazarika (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Lauren Herwehe (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Tsering Lhamo (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Danielle Losos (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Michela Savignano (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award)
Nic Tarasewicz (James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Graduate Research Award, the Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Graduate Part-time Instructor Award)
Annika Hirmke (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Taylor Johaneman (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award, the Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Graduate Part-time Instructor Award)
Guiye Li (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Zhe Lin (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Sherrie Liu (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Esmee Mulder (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Yuying Ren (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Mallory Sagehorn (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Neda Shaban (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Anshul Rai Sharma (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Em Wright (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Rahila Yilangai (Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award)
Saad Hakim (Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award)
Lauren Palermo (Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award)
Anthony Pirolli (Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award)
Emelina Catterson (Arctic Studies Certificate)
Parker Jacobik (Arctic Studies Certificate)
Lucy Sutcliffe (Arctic Studies Certificate)
Matthew Akin (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
William Beach (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Benjamin Booker (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Bell Braitberg (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Emily Brown (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Clementine Clyker (GIS and Computational Science Certificate, Hydrology Certificate)
Alex Davis (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Tessa Dempster (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Stefan Ferla (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Sammy Fitterman (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Alex Frechetti (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Eric Gosnell (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Tahn Jandai (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Reidar Johnston (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Addison Klocker (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Ian Messa (GIS and Computational Science Certificate, Theodore C Myers Memorial Scholarship Award)
Ruth Mills (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Kalpana Murugan (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Asa Paonaskar (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Jordan Sanders (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Larry Scherer (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Carly Schwab (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Ash Tribble (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Rachel Underhill (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Abby Verneuille (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Stefan Wagner (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Erik Weniger (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Charlie Wrede (GIS and Computational Science Certificate)
Kian Oaklief (Hydrology Certificate)
Congyuan Zheng (A. David Hill Endowed Scholarship in Geography, DigitalGlobe Foundation Scott Smith Memorial Undergraduate Award)
Kale Potter (Mable B. Duncan Scholarship Award)
Ellie Shandro (Mable B. Duncan Scholarship Award)
Lyndsay Veerkamp (Mable B. Duncan Scholarship Award)
Syd Stevens (2026 Mapathon Winner, Life Affirming Geographies Category)
Benedict McCullough (2026 Mapathon Winner, Geographies of Care Category)
Zosia Kirkland (2026 Mapathon Winner, Geographies of Resistance & Repair Category)
Samara Lo (2026 Mapathon Winner, Geographies of Sustainability & Environmental Justice Category)
Zach Steiner (2026 Mapathon Winner, Best Overall Map, People's Choice Map)
Darian Chavez-Matsunaga (2026 Mapathon Winner, Honorable Mention)

See Pictures of the Event Here

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Ian Messa receives Theodore C. Myers Memorial Award for Best Honors Thesis in Geography

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:55:23 +0000

Ian Messa receives Theodore C. Myers Memorial Award for Best Honors Thesis in Geography Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 04/28/2026 - 09:55

My name is Ian Messa. I'll be graduating from CU in less than a month with a BA in geography; a certificate in GIS; and minors in civil engineering, applied math, and pure math. I've been working at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geologic Hazards Science Center (GHSC) in Golden for the past two years, where I've been researching model optimization and uncertainty quantification for probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHAs). I actually just defended my honors thesis, which I wrote under the advisory of Dr. Morteza Karimzadeh, entitled Accelerated Epistemic Uncertainty Propagation for Seismic Hazard Models Using a Differentiable KL-PCE Framework (it should be available in the CU ��ý�� honors thesis repository soon). The title is long, but the idea is as follows: We have a huge ensemble of predictive models, and we can aggregate these models to quickly calculate the mean prediction of the ensemble; what can we do to estimate the spread of ensemble predictions from this ensemble without evaluating every single model belonging to it?

It's been a long, sort of winding road to get to where I am now. Here are some highlights: Freshman year, I took Natural Hazards with Dr. Bill Travis, and I enjoyed it a lot, but didn't think much of that; now, for the past two years, I have worked at the USGS, where we model natural (earthquake!) hazards. While I was taking Natural Hazards, Bill recommended a book called Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow, and Dr. Tim Oakes recommended another called The Promise of Infrastructure, edited by Anand, Gupta, and Appel; these two books made me realize that I wouldn't be content with my college education unless I studied civil engineering in some capacity, so I enrolled in the geography department's hydrology certificate (Normal Accidents has also influenced how I think about engineered systems to this day). That summer, I got a job with Denver Water as a recreation intern during the expansion of Gross Dam, and the role made me realize that I had to drop the hydrology certificate and pursue a proper minor in civil engineering; I learned about that opportunity from the GEOG newsletter. A year later, Machine Learning in GIS with Morteza totally changed my relationship with math: I was pursuing the minor pretty dispassionately because I was good at math in high school and thought it was kind of fun, but that course made me realize that I actually had a passion and interest for mathematics when I was applying it to solve problems. After this realization, I signed up for the applied math minor in the middle of the semester.

Our faculty is very bright and just as diverse; the same can be said for our grad students. Our staff is also incredible, and I think we'd all be much worse off without their support and organization (and bagels...). The geography department has afforded me the opportunity to really poke around and learn about my interests in a way that I don't think any other department could. Much like the discipline of geography itself, the people in our department exemplify how diversity can be a strength, especially in frightful and uncertain times. I'm thankful to have spent four years in the geography department and think of my time here whenever I hear someone characterizing diversity as an evil or a weakness.

After I graduate, I'm considering a PhD, but I'm not quite sure what for. It seems like it'll be between civil engineering, earthquake engineering, and statistical mechanics; the last one might sound like it's out of left field, but I promise it's not as far from the other two as it sounds. In the meantime, I hope to continue my work at the GHSC. At the beginning of the semester, I was talking to my friend, and I told him how, after three and a half years up here, I finally feel like I'm not a freshman anymore. It's funny how fast life moves.

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Abigail Verneuille Selected Outstanding Undergraduate of the College of Arts and Science

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:52:49 +0000

Abigail Verneuille Selected Outstanding Undergraduate of the College of Arts and Science Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 04/28/2026 - 09:52

Abby Verneuille, an Anthropology Major and GIS Certificate student, completed an honors thesis with Sarah Schlosser, the Department’s GIS Certificate Coordinator, serving as the committee's outside reader. Her thesis shed new light on the Pre-Hispanic History of Northern New Mexico and on human adaptation to climate change more generally, evaluating the relationship between the environment, agricultural techniques, and migration in the Velarde Valley of northern New Mexico. The thesis was highly technical, containing a variety of GIS, general linear modeling, and statistical analyses. Her significant contribution to the field along with an exceptional academic record led to her earn recognition as an Outstanding Undergraduate of the College of A&S for Spring 2026.

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