The Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research (CCR) held its 12th annual Reid Bryson Scholarship poster session on February 26, 2024, as part of the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Building Poster Reception. There were 43 student applicants from a diverse set of departments and institutes across campus, including the Nelson Institute, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Plant Pathology, Geography, Geoscience, Entomology, Computer Science, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, and Biological Systems Engineering. This rich variety captures the interdisciplinary nature of Professor Reid Bryson’s studies and will inspire other UW students.
Three undergraduate students and five graduate students were awarded scholarships based on the quality of their posters. The co-winners of the 2024 Reid Bryson Undergraduate Scholarships are Paige Bartels, Ian Franda, and Collin Queen. The winners of the 2024 Reid Bryson Graduate Scholarships are Rudra Thaker (first place), Elizabeth Berg (runner up), Matilyn Bindl (runner up), Francisco Campos Arguedas (runner up), and Sadegh Ranjbar (runner up). Individual awards ranged from $400 to $1,000.
Paige Bartels, a junior majoring in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, presented “Investigating the Radiative and Thermodynamic Impact of the June 2020 “Godzilla” Saharan Dust Event”.
Ian Franda, a junior majoring in Computer Science, presented “Python Data Analysis and Visualization for Unstructured Grid Data”.
Collin Queen, a junior majoring in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, presented “Core-Shell Catalyst Synthesis for CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol”.
Rudra Thaker, a graduate student in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, presented “ARctic Serenade: Dancing with Arctic Atmospheric Rivers in the Changing Climate Symphony”.
Elizabeth Berg, a graduate student in the Nelson Institute’s Environment and Resources program, presented “The Impact of Ash Tree Removals on the Urban Heat Island Effect in Madison, Wisconsin”.
Matilyn Bindl, a graduate student in the Nelson Institute’s Environment and Resources program, presented “Role of Uncertain Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies in Climate Policy.”
Francisco Campos Arguedas, a graduate student in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, presented “Effects of Whole Ecosystem Warming on Cold Hardiness and Dormancy of Boreal Woody Perennial Plants.”
Sadegh Ranjbar, a graduate student in Biological Systems Engineering, presented “Real-time carbon up-take and respiration from geostationary satellites”.
In addition to these winning posters, the scholarship session attracted an interesting and diverse range of research topics from across the UW campus, including:
- Impacts of forest management practices
- Improvements in ice sheet modeling
- Paleoclimatic ocean circulation
- Modeling urban hydrologic processes
- Monitoring harmful algal blooms
- Carbon accumulation in prairie grasslands
- Season-ahead hydrologic forecasting
Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we plan to award more Reid Bryson Scholarships in 2025!