The Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research (CCR) held its 13th annual Reid Bryson Scholarship poster session on February 10, 2025, as part of the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Community Poster Reception. There were 52 student participants representing 21 departments and centers across multiple colleges and institutes, including Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Animal and Dairy Science, Center for Limnology, Botany, Economics, Geography, Math, Design Studies. The posters embodied the interdisciplinary nature of Professor Reid Bryson’s studies.
Three undergraduate students and four graduate students were awarded scholarships based on the quality of their posters. The co-winners of the 2025 Reid Bryson Undergraduate Scholarships are Alissa Choi (Geoscience), Nikhil Trivedi (AOS), and Maya Williams (Geography/AOS). The winners of the 2025 Reid Bryson Graduate Scholarships are 1st place winner Zoe Ryan (Botany), and runners up Rudy Molinek (Geoscience), Aaron Alexander (Civil and Environmental Engineering), and Emma Blackford (Freshwater and Marine Science/Integrative Biology). Individual awards range from $550 to $1,000.
Alissa Choi, undergraduate major in Geoscience and Chemistry, “Beyond the Graph: Increasing Data Literacy for K-12 Educators and Students Through Exploration of the Paleoclimate Record”
Nikhil Trivedi, undergraduate major in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Computer Science, “Evaluating HAFS Forecast Uncertainty with Hurricane Ian Using Different Convective Schemes”
Maya Williams, undergraduate major in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Math, conducting work in the Geography department on “CO2 and CH4 Dynamics in Mega Thaw Slumps”
Zoe Ryan, graduate student in Botany, “The Prairie State: Using Ecological Niche Modeling to Predict Distributions of Early Land Plants”
Rudy Molinek, graduate student in Geoscience, “A New High Resolution Pb Isotope Record from the North Atlantic for the Last Interglacial and Holocene”
Aaron Alexander, graduate student in Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Beyond Reduction of Runoff: Examining the Added Benefits of Widespread Urban Greening”
Emma Blackford, graduate student in Freshwater and Marine Science, “Season-ahead Prediction Models of Oxythermal Habitat Conditions in a Wisconsin Lake”
In addition to these winning posters, the scholarship session attracted an interesting and diverse range of research topics from across the UW campus, including: agricultural nutrient management, algal blooms near sea ice, soil microbiology, clear air turbulence, regenerative
agroforestry, wildfire air quality impacts to severe weather, and detecting dramatic changes to ocean circulation.
Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we plan to award more Reid Bryson Scholarships in 2026!