The Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research (CCR) held its seventh annual Reid Bryson Scholarship competition on April 27, 2017, as part of the UW-Madison Climate Change Symposium. There were 18 student applicants from a diverse set of departments and centers across campus, including CCR, the Nelson Institute, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Zoology, Geography, Engineering, and Agronomy. This rich variety captures the interdisciplinary nature of Professor Reid Bryson’s studies and will inspire other UW students.
The winner of the 2017 Reid Bryson Graduate Scholarship of $750 was Lucas Gloege of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS). Lucas is a Ph.D. candidate studying how tributary loads are impacted by the hydrodynamics of the coastal zone. His poster, “The fate of tributary loads to Lake Michigan,” was based on his doctoral research under the guidance of Professor Galen McKinley in AOS. Lucas utilized a three-dimensional hydrodynamics model of Lake Michigan to simulate the redistribution from the mouth of four tributaries during three thermal regimes. He finds tributary loads are coastally trapped during the presence of strong thermal bar and offshore movement during the summer stratified season. This work suggests strategic management efforts should be framed around local and coastal impacts in lieu of the current assumption that tributary inputs are instantaneously well mixed throughout the basin.
The winner of the 2017 Reid Bryson Undergraduate Scholarship of $750 was Morgan Sanger of the Department of Geological Engineering. Morgan presented her research on the environmental impacts of Cold-in-Place recycling for highway maintenance entitled, ” Environmental Benefits of Cold-in-Place Recycling in Wisconsin.” Morgan used life-cycle assessments to evaluate the environmental savings achieved when using Cold-in-Place recycling, a method of highway resurfacing, instead of the conventional method, Mill and Overlay, for nine projects in Wisconsin. She found that using Cold-in-Place Recycling instead of Mill and Overlay saved an average of 20% in energy consumption, water consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions related to highway maintenance projects. Morgan’s research was conducted with Renee Olley, Angela Pakes Ahlman, Tuncer Edil, Andrew Baker, and Erik Elliot.
The winner of the 2017 Reid Bryson Undergraduate Scholarship of $250 was Elise Penn of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. In her poster, “Diurnal variation in Nitrogen Oxides over the United States.” Elise studied how satellites see daily changes in NO2 concentrations. She discovered that satellite measurements can see the daily cycles of NO2 in cities and power plants. Elise’s research was conducted with Professor Tracey Holloway.
The winner of the 2017 Reid Bryson Undergraduate Scholarship of $250 was Graham Henning of the Department of Horticulture. “In his poster, “Fonio: A grain from the past, A seed for the future,” Graham studied the evolution and local cultivation of an ancient West African grain called “fonio.” He discovered that, through genetic approaches, fonio’s cultivation can be improved, leading to its continued success as a staple crop in the region and further securing local food sovereignty in the face of a changing climate. Graham’s research was conducted with Andrew Maule, Kat Kutchin, Spencer Luedtke, and Sara Patterson.
In addition to these winning posters, the scholarship competition attracted an interesting and diverse range of research topics from across the UW campus, including:
- The quantification of NOx emissions in the Delhi Metropolitan region
- The role of peroxidase in spaceflights plant biology
- Empowering women through the decentralization of waste in Costa Rica
- Spaceborne snowfall retrieval biases in Alaska
Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we will be awarding more Reid Bryson Scholarships in 2018 to worthy University of Wisconsin-Madison students.