The following members received Outstanding Student Paper Awards at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) 2014 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. Winners have individual pages on AGU’s website at http://membership.agu.org/ospa-winners/.

Atmospheric and Space Electricity

Coordinators: Xianan Jiang, Jianjun Liu, Brant Carlson, Tao Wang, Morris Cohen

Rasoul Kabirzadeh, Stanford University, Multi-scale 3D simulation of lightning and thunderstorm electrodynamics

David Sarria, University Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Some spatial and temporal properties of secondary electrons and positrons produced by terrestrial gamma-ray flashes derived from Monte-Carlo simulations

Atmospheric Sciences

Coordinators: Yolanda Roberts, Sue Chen, Shannon Capps, Yongyun Hu

Elizabeth Maroon, University of Washington, The influence of a single Northern Hemisphere continent on tropical precipitation and climate in idealized GCM experiments

Abigail R. Koss, University of Colorado at Boulder, Derived emission rates and photochemical production rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with oil and natural gas operations in the Uintah Basin, UT during a wintertime ozone formation event

Rachel Schwartz, University of California, San Diego, North American west coast summer low cloudiness: Broadscale variability associated with sea surface temperature

Peer Johannes Nowack, University of Cambridge, A large ozone-circulation feedback and its implications for global warming assessments

Maria Rugenstein, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, The ocean is shaping tropospheric adjustments

Forest Cannon, University of California, Santa Barbara, Winter westerly disturbance activity in High Mountain Asia: A wave tracking approach

Gregory P. Schill, University of Colorado at Boulder, Heterogeneous ice nucleation on simulated sea-spray aerosol using Raman microscopy

Mary Cameron, Stanford University, Quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of aircraft emissions in the upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere

Chelsea Preble, University of California, Berkeley, N2O and NO2 emissions from heavy-duty diesel trucks with advanced emission controls

Philippe Papin, State University of New York at Albany, Tropical cyclone interactions within Central American gyres

Kristen Rasmussen, University of Washington, Convective initiation in the vicinity of the subtropical Andes

Geeta Persad, Princeton University, Similarities in the spatial pattern of the surface flux response to present-day greenhouse gases and aerosols

Manuel Helbig, University of Montreal, Seasonal dynamics of the land surface energy balance of a boreal forest-peatland landscape affected by degrading permafrost in the Taiga Plains, Canada

Alejandra Borunda, Columbia University in the City of New York, Local sources for the “megadust” events at the WAIS Divide ice core

Marco Giometto, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), The impact of variable building height on drag, flow and turbulence over a realistic suburban surface

Sarah Connors, University of Cambridge, A41N-05: High-resolution methane emission estimates using the InTEM inversion system

Daniel Anderson, University of Maryland, College Park, Determination of stratospheric and anthropogenic contributions to enhanced mid-tropospheric O3 in the tropical western Pacific

Eric Lebel, Providence College, Dimethyl sulfide emissions from dairies and agriculture as a potential contributor to sulfate aerosols in the California Central Valley

Biogeosciences

Coordinators: Guofang Miao, Yiran Dong, Melanie Harrison, Feng Zhou, Susan Natali, Jasmine Crumsey

Dylan Meyer, University of Texas at Austin, Vertical migration of gas through fracture due to salinity-buffered hydrate formation within the hydrate stability zone

Justine Sauvage, University of Rhode Island, Boosting subsurface life: Is subseafloor sediment a natural catalyst for radiolytic hydrogen production?

Lucy Stewart, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Reactive transport model of growth and methane production by high-temperature methanogens in hydrothermal regions of the subseafloor

Eleanor Campbell, Colorado State University, The Litter Decomposition and Leaching (LIDEL) model: Modeling plant litter decomposition to CO2, dissolved organic matter and microbial products through nitrogen and lignin controls on microbial carbon use efficiency

Jessica Corman, Arizona State University, Growing rocks: Implications of lithification for microbial communities and nutrient cycling

Olivia Stoken, University of Virginia, Association of dissolved mercury with dissolved organic carbon in rivers and streams: The role of watershed soil organic carbon

Mike Alonzo, University of California, Santa Barbara, Mapping urban forest leaf area index using lidar: A comparison of gap fraction inversion and allometric methods

Susan Meerdink, University of California, Santa Barbara, Linking seasonal foliar chemistry to VSWIR-TIR spectroscopy across California ecosystems

Erin C. Seybold, Duke University, Carbon metabolism, uptake kinetics, and export: How watershed form influences carbon mobilization and in-stream transformations in headwater catchments

Rose Smith, University of Maryland, College Park, Export and metabolism of carbon in urban watersheds: Climate Implications

Cryosphere

Coordinators: Eric Sproles, Martin O’Leary, Ru Chen

Fernando Serrano Paolo, University of California, San Diego, Complex Antarctic ice shelf thickness changes revealed by eighteen years of satellite radar altimetry

Kelly E. Gleason, Oregon State University, Charred forests increase snow albedo decay: Watershed-scale implications of the postfire snow albedo effect

Vena W. Chu, University of California, Los Angeles, Remote estimation of Greenland ice sheet supraglacial river discharge using GIS modeling and WorldView-2 satellite imagery

Alicia M. Rutledge, Arizona State University, Mapping glacial weathering processes with thermal infrared remote sensing: A case study at Robertson Glacier, Canada

Logan C. Byers, University of Kansas, Processing time-series point clouds to reveal strain conditions of the Helheim Glacier terminus and its adjacent mélange

David Shean, University of Washington, Amundsen Sea sector ice shelf thickness, melt rates, and inland response from annual high-resolution DEM mosaics

Joanna Young, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Spatially distributing a GRACE mascon solution across Gulf of Alaska glaciers

Melissa Gervais, McGill University, The evolution of Arctic air masses in a warming world

Earth and Planetary Surface Processes

Coordinators: Ken Ferrier, Leslie Hsu

Mathieu Lapotre, California Institute of Technology, Hydraulic reconstructions of outburst floods on Earth and Mars

Kurt Imhoff, University of Montana, Sediment routing through channel confluences: RFID tracer experiments from a gravel-bed river headwaters

Eric Winchell, University of Colorado at Boulder, Infilled tunnels, mounds, and stonelines: Evidence of the annual to centennial impacts of gophers in the montane meadows of Colorado’s Front Range

Dan Scott, Colorado State University, Physical controls on delta formation and carbon storage in mountain lakes

Derek Schook, Colorado State University, Using cottonwood dendrochronology to reconstruct river discharge and floodplain dynamics, Yellowstone River, Montana

Jessica A. Zinger, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Flow, morphology and sedimentology of an evolving chute cutoff on the Wabash River, IL-IN

Sharon Bywater-Reyes, University of Montana, Sensitivity analysis of vegetation-induced flow steering in channels

Earth and Space Science Informatics

Coordinators: Jichun Zhang, Alfred Kalyanapu, Xiaogang Ma

Chung-Yi Hou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Discovering new global climate patterns: Curating a 21-year high temporal (hourly) and spatial (40km) resolution reanalysis dataset

Christopher Kadow, Free University of Berlin, A hybrid evaluation system framework (Shell & Web) with standardized access to climate model data and verification tools for a clear climate science infrastructure on big data high performance computers

Education

Coordinators: David Lagomasino, Stacie Bender

Kathryn Materna, University of California, Berkeley, Analysis of atmospheric delays and asymmetric positioning errors in GPS

Geodesy

Coordinators: Gareth Funning, Arun Kumar, Emily Montgomery-Brown, Xiaopen Tong

Heming Liao, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Ionosphere effect correction in InSAR using improved split spectrum processing

Keven Roy, University of Toronto, Mantle viscosity constraints from U.S. East Coast relative sea level histories: Implications for understanding the glacial isostatic adjustment of the North American continent

Lambert Caron, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Inverting glacial isostatic adjustment beyond linear viscoelasticity using Burgers rheology

Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism

Coordinators: Gunther Kletetschka, Michael Purucker, Laurie Brown, Ken Kodama

Livia Kother, Technical University of Denmark, An equivalent source method for modelling the lithospheric magnetic field using satellite and airborne magnetic data

Elisa Piispa, Michigan Technological University, Paleomagnetism of the ~1.1 Ga Baraga-Marquette dykes (Michigan, USA)

Global Environmental Change

Coordinators: Sarah Green, Afshin Pourmokhtarian, David Noone

Ruth Heindel, Dartmouth College, Phosphorus cycling in an extreme environment: Grain-scale investigation of apatite weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Miriam Gonzalez, University of Hamburg, Ocean-based alkalinity enhancement: Mitigation potential, side effects and the fate of added alkalinity assessed in an Earth system model

Michael Glotter, University of Chicago, Evaluating the reliability of reanalysis as a substitute for observational data in large-scale agricultural assessments

David Mildrexler, Oregon State University, Characterizing an integrated annual global measure of the Earth’s maximum land surfacetTemperatures from 2003 to 2012 reveals strong biogeographic influences

Hydrology

Coordinators: Terri Hogue, Kolja Rotzoll, Laurel Saito, Newsha Ajami, Tara Troy

Camille Ouellet Dallaire, McGill University, River reach classification for the Greater Mekong Region at high spatial resolution

Adam Wlostowski, Colorado State University, How do hyporheic zones mediate stream solute loads? Using Antarctic glacial melt streams to simplify the problem

Matthew Kaufman, University of Texas at Austin, Transport of solutes in hyporheic zones with temperature-dependent reversible sorption

Zachary Hoylman, University of Montana, Landscape heterogeneity modulates forest sensitivity to climate

Jane Yuen Yung Chui, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Interface evolution during radial miscible viscous fingering

Catherine Finkenbiner, University of NebraskaLincoln, Improving the operability of the cosmic-ray neutron soil moisture method: Estimation of soil calibration parameters using global datasets

Kevin Befus, University of Texas at Austin, Estimating the distribution of contemporary (<50 year old) groundwater on Earth

Jaylee Conlin, Arizona State University, Identification and atmospheric transport of microcystin around Southern California using airborne remote sensing

Maura Allaire, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The hydromorphology of an urbanizing watershed using multivariate elasticity

Anna Bergstrom, University of Montana, Incorporating landscape heterogeneity to understand patterns of stream discharge across spatial and temporal scales in forested mountain watersheds

Joaquim Soler Sagarra, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Reactive transport modelling by using Eulerian-Lagrangian methods based on mixing

Laureline Josset, University of Lausanne, Functional error models to accelerate nested sampling

Adrien Selles, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Temperature as tracer of the groundwater circulation within a complex volcano-detritic system

Kimberly Manago, Colorado School of Mines, Multiple imputation of groundwater data to evaluate spatial and temporal anthropogenic influences on subsurface water fluxes in Los Angeles, CA

Ashley Michelle Matheny, Ohio State University, Proposed hydrodynamic model increases the ability of land-surface models to capture intra-daily dynamics of transpiration and canopy structure effects

Mineral and Rock Physics

Coordinators: Congrui Jin, Wendy Panero

Kevin J. Miller, University of Maryland, College Park, Electrical conductivity and permeability of partially molten mantle rocks: Results from digital rock physics experiments

Alisha Clark, University of California, Davis, Volumetric and elastic properties of basalt at high pressure by X-ray microtomography and GHz-ultrasonic interferometry

Natural Hazards

Coordinators: Celso Ferreira, Peter Webley, Zhenhong Li

Kasey Schultz, University of California, Davis, Virtual California: Earthquake statistics, surface deformation patterns, surface gravity changes and InSAR interferograms for arbitrary fault geometries

Yuki Nakashima, Hokkaido University, Ionospheric disturbances by volcanic eruptions by GNSS-TEC: Comparison between Vulcanian and Plinian eruptions

Near Surface Geophysics

Coordinators: Fred Day-Lewis, John Lane, Xavier Comas

Emily Wei, University of California, San Diego, Clinothem lobe growth and possible ties to downslope processes in the Gulf of Papua

Chelsea Lancelle, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Directivity and sensitivity of fiber-optic cable measuring ground motion using a distributed acoustic sensing array

Gerrit Olivier, University Joseph Fourier Grenoble, Noise-based body-wave seismic tomography in an active underground mine

Ocean Sciences

Coordinators: Robert Mason, Gregory Cutter, Deborah Hutchinson, Silvia Gremes-Cordero

Johanna Press, Yale University, Modeling trace element concentrations in the San Francisco Bay estuary from remote measurement of suspended solids

Jörn Callies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wave-vortex decomposition of one-dimensional ship track data

Marta Ribo, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Large-scale fine-grained sediment waves over the Gulf of Valencia continental slope (northwestern Mediterranean Sea)

Ryan M. Holmes, Stanford University, The vortex dynamics of tropical instability waves and their impacts on equatorial mixing in a regional ocean model

Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

Coordinators: Arghy Goswami, Jessica Carilli

Rosie Oakes, Pennsylvania State University, Adding a new dimension to the study of calcareous plankton response to ocean acidification

Kevin Burke, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Improving estimates of regional vegetation: Using pre-settlement vegetation data and variable wind speed to quantify pollen dispersal and source area

Madelyn Mette, Iowa State University, Linking North Atlantic climate dynamics with shell growth and geochemistry in northern Norway

Planetary Sciences

Coordinators: Douglas Galante, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Nathan Bridges

Anna Grau Galofre, University of British Columbia, A quantitative characterization and classification of Martian Valley networks: New constraints on Mars’ early climate and its variability in space and time

Tajana Schneiderman, Ohio State University, Adaptive multi-sensor data fusion model for in-situ exploration of Mars

Catherine Elder, University of Arizona, Convection and melt migration in Io’s mantle

Jason Hofgartner, Cornell University, Specular reflections from Titan’s equatorial region: Solving the decade old mystery

James Keane, University of Arizona, The contribution of impact basins and mascons to the lunar figure: Evidence for lunar true polar wander, and a past low-eccentricity, synchronous lunar orbit

Public Affairs

Coordinators: Denise Hills, Linda Rowan, Shengqian Chen

John Kotcher, George Mason University, Scientists as communicators: A randomized experiment to assess public reactions to scientists’ social media communication along the science-advocacy continuum

Seismology

Coordinators: Bateer Wu, Hao Zhang, Richard Allen, Zuoxun Zeng

Kevin Seats, Stanford University, Spatially locating time-lapsed relative velocity changes in Yellowstone

Amy Williamson, Georgia Institute of Technology, Temporal feasibility of rapid joint inversions in response to tsunamis triggered by megathrust earthquakes

Daniel Bowden, California Institute of Technology, Ambient noise correlation amplitudes and local site response

Saulė Žukauskaitė, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Full seismic waveform inversion for the Japanese islands

Martin Gal, University of Tasmania, Frequency dependence of short period seismic noise from two decades of observations at Warramunga Seismic Array (WRA), Australia

Jennifer Neale, University of Southampton, Infragravity wave generation and reflection off the coast at Oregon, USA

Avinash Nayak, University of California, Berkeley, Investigation of seismic events associated with the sinkhole at Napoleonville Salt Dome, Louisiana

Rhys Hawkins, Australian National University, A multi-scale framework for trans-dimensional tomography

Stephen Perry, California Institute of Technology, Towards reconciling magnitude-invariant stress drops with dynamic weakening

Hannah Rabinowitz, Columbia University in the City of New York, Detecting seismic signatures in the rock record at the Japan Trench

Raymundo Omar Plata Martinez, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Radiated seismic energy of aftershocks of the 20 March 2012 earthquake, Mw7.5, Ometepec-Pinotepa Nacional, Mexico.

Space Physics and Aeronomy

Coordinators: Brian Welsch, Allan Weatherwax, Elizabeth Mitchell

Landon B. Terry, Utah State University, Implementation of a high-altitude balloon payload to study thermospheric wind speeds through redline airglow emissions of atomic oxygen at 630 nm via a split-field etalon Doppler imager utilizing a Fabry-Perot interferometer

Neil Hindley, University of Bath, On the southern gravity wave hot spot: An individual waves study with cosmic GPS-RO

Karthik Venkataramani, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Contributions of the higher vibrational levels of nitric oxide to the radiative cooling of the thermosphere

Phyllis Whittlesey, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Testing the Solar Probe Cup, an instrument designed to touch the Sun

Patrick Tracy, University of Michigan, Heavy ion temperatures as observed by ACE/Swics

Chao Yue, University of California, Los Angeles, Determining substorm onset location using 3D empirical force-balanced pressure and magnetic field models for substorm growth phase

Lois Smith, University of Michigan, The disappearance of the post-midnight high energy ion plasmasphere

Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, University of California, Los Angeles, Influence of auroral streamers on rapid evolution of SAPS flows

Ashley Carlton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Using geostationary communications satellites as a sensor: Telemetry search algorithms

Oliver Hartkorn, University of Cologne, A model of Callisto’s ionosphere

Study of Earth’s Deep Interior

Coordinators: Allen McNamara, Sabine Stanley, Guole Shi

Miles Bodmer, University of Oregon, Shear wave splitting observations across the Juan de Fuca plate system: Ridge-to-trench constraints on mantle flow from 2 years of Cascadia Initiative OBS data

Joseph Byrnes, University of Oregon, Structure of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system beneath the Juan de Fuca plate: Results of body wave imaging using Cascadia Initiative data

Tectonophysics

Coordinators: Philip Ball, Andrea Tommasi

Juan Carlos Rosas, University of Alberta, Thermal models of the Costa Rica–Nicaragua subduction zone: The effect of a three-dimensional oceanic plate structure and hydrothermal circulation in the temperature distribution and mantle wedge dynamics

Rachael Bullock, University of Durham, Earthquake rupture in shallow, unconsolidated sediment

Andrew J. Parsons, University of Leeds, Microstructural analysis of the Greater Himalayan Sequence, Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya, central Nepal: Channel flow and orogen-parallel deformation

Tianze Liu, Stanford University, The lithospheric structure of Ordos, China: Evidence from refined virtual deep seismic sounding (VDSS)

Jean-Arthur Olive, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Modes of extensional faulting controlled by surface processes

Ekbal Hussain, University of Leeds, The relationship between coseismic slip and postseismic creep

Austin Elliott, University of California, Davis, Slip rate gradients along parallel strands of the eastern Altyn Tagh fault confirm modeled rupture behavior at a transpressional bend

Tianhaozhe Sun, University of Victoria, Studying near-trench characteristics of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki megathrust rupture using differential multi-beam bathymetry before and after the earthquake

Zachary Eilon, Columbia University in the City of New York, A joint inversion for velocity and anisotropy structure beneath a highly extended continental rift

Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology

Coordinators: Tyrone Rooney, Sean Mulcahy, Noah McClean, Brian Dreyer, Michelle Coombs, Fang-Zhen Teng, Sarah Brownlee, Michael Bizimis, Sarah Lambart, Eric Brown, Qi Fu

James Cowlyn, University of Canterbury, Insights into proximal-medial pyroclastic density current deposits at a high-risk glaciated volcano: Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand

Matylda Hermanska, University of Iceland, Geochemistry of multicomponent fluid phases in the Krafla high-enthalpy geothermal system, NE Iceland

Tyler Brown, University of Wyoming, Towards solving the conundrum of fast-spread ocean crust formation: Insights from textural analysis of gabbroic rocks from Pito Deep and Hess Deep, East Pacific Rise

Jenni L. Hopkins, Victoria University of Wellington, Trace element geochemistry of basaltic tephra in maar cores: Implications for centre correlation, field evolution, and mantle source characteristics of the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand

Tom D. Pering, University of Sheffield, Observations on multi-slug activity—Implications for volcanic processes

Jacqueline T. Salzer, University of Potsdam, Spatial and temporal patterns of dome extrusion during the 2004-2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Mark Stelten, University of California, Davis, The dynamics of the post-caldera magmatic system at Yellowstone: Insights from age, trace element, and isotopic data of zircon and sanidine

Kellie Wall, Washington State University, Oxygen fugacity recorded by xenoliths from Pacific oceanic islands

Joshua S. Mendez Harper, Georgia Institute of Technology, The microphysics of ash tribocharging: New insights from laboratory experiments

Citation: AGU (2015), Outstanding Student Paper Awards, Eos, 96, doi:10.1029/2015EO023663. Published on 24 February 2015.

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