NCGS Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarships
Recipients of the Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarship are chosen from graduate-level applicants who submit an application that describes their proposed research or thesis projects on some aspect of the Earth Sciences or Environmental Earth Sciences in or near northern California. We send announcements of the scholarship each fall to all degree-granting colleges in Northern California; however, students at any institution may apply. The application period is also announced on this page. Awardees are announced at our January meeting.
Download the 2025-2026 scholarship application form here
The scholarship is primarily funded from a bequest by Richard W. Chambers, plus contributions from NCGS members. In 2007, the NCGS Board of Directors renamed its graduate scholarship program in his honor and increased the award amounts.
2024–2025 Awardees
The NCGS awarded two Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarships for the 2024–2025 academic year. The recipients were:
Ryan Lynch, UC Davis, $2000 for a master’s research proposal titled Cracking the Klamaths: A not-so-rigid block linking the Walker Lane to the Mendocino triple junction under advisor Dr. Michael Oskin.
Sarah C. Shi, UC Berkeley, $2000 for a PhD proposal titled Investigating eruptive P-T-t-X (H2O, CO2) paths at a high-threat Cascade volcano, Medicine Lake under advisor Dr. Penny Wieser.
About Richard Chambers: As a young man, Dick Chambers (1937–2004) served a tour in the Navy on an aircraft carrier, became an avid fan of aviation, and in later years was often seen helping out at events at Buchanan Field in Concord. Dick was an accountant for the Production Department at Chevron and spent most of his career in the Central Valley of California and Alaska. His interest in geology extended beyond NCGS membership, and he left bequests to the Geology Department at Oregon State University and the California State Mining and Minerals Museum. After retiring from Chevron, he was active in the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association as a docent and was very active in the Concord Historical Society. He had not married, and at his passing was living in Pittsburg, California.
Previous Awardees
2023–2024
Eden Pikowski, CSU Chico, $2,000 for a master’s research proposal titled Paleoecology of the hydrocarbon seeps of Blue Ridge, Colusa County, California under advisor Dr. Robert Shapiro.
Evelyn H. Usher, UC Davis, $2,000 for a master’s research proposal titled Transition from Walker Lane deformation to Cascade Range faulting and volcanism within Lassen National Park under advisor Dr. Michael Oskin.
2022–2023
Regina Khoury, Cal Poly Humboldt, $1,500 for a master’s research proposal titled Petrologic constraints on the pre-eruptive storage conditions of magmas erupted during the ~12 ka flareup of Medicine Lake Volcano, California under advisor Dr. Brandon L. Browne.
Sarah Leidinger, Cal Poly Humboldt, $1,500 for a master’s research proposal titled Bathymetry and carbon accumulation rate of a rare Northern California coastal peatland under advisor Dr. Laura Levy.
2021–2022
Nicholas DeSisto, CSU Fresno, $1,500 for a master’s research proposal titled Thermochronological analysis relating to the origin of dikes along Owens Valley, California: Implications for dextral strike-slip faulting over the past 83 million years under advisor Dr. Christopher J. Pluhar.
Elizabeth Kennedy, CSU Chico, $1,500 for a master’s research proposal titled Petrographic analysis for the occurrence of detrital serpentine and amphiboles in the upper Tuscan Formation/Metavolcanic Formations under advisor Dr. Hannah Aird.
2020–2021
Meghomita Das, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, $1,500 for a PhD proposal titled Deep subduction zone dynamics: Implications of deep tremor and slow slip from the rock record under advisor Dr. Christie Rowe.
Katelyn Wilcox, Fresno State University, $1,500 for a master’s degree proposal on Post-fire sediment capture in incised meadow channels in the Sierra Nevada under advisor Dr. Beth Weinman.
2019–2020
Samuel Bold, Humboldt State University, $1,500 for a proposal on Researching paleoseismic and geomorphological processes related to active tectonics in southern Cascadia in northern California under advisor Dr. Melanie Michalak.
Andrew Tholt, UC Berkeley, $1,500 for a proposal to Conduct zircon analyses of the volcaniclastic Baird Formation to refine its Carboniferous biostratigraphic age and the kinematic history of the Eastern Klamath terrane under advisor Dr. Paul Renne.
2018–2019
Angela Fiorito, CSU Chico, $1,000 for a research proposal titled Biostratigraphy of the Triassic Hosselkus Limestone, Shasta County, California under advisor Dr. Russell Shapiro.
Mariah Romero, Montana State University, $1,000 for a research proposal titled Geologic evolution of the basal Great Valley forearc basin in California under advisor Dr. Devon A. Orme.
2017–2018
Kimberley Bitterwolf, UC Santa Cruz, $1,000 for a PhD research proposal titled The effects of coastal geology on non-traditional stable isotopes (Sr and CA) in Northern California under advisor Dr. Adina Paytan.
Nick Hawthorne, Humboldt State University, $1,000 for a masters research proposal titled Investigating the geomorphology of the Salmon River and the legacy impacts from hydraulic mining dating back to the 1850s under advisor Dr. Jasper Oshua.
Marcus V.A.O. Pacheco, Fresno State University, $1,000 for a masters research proposal titled Application of near-surface geophysical methods to map the volume and internal structure of the royal arches rock avalanche deposit in Yosemite National Park under advisor Dr. Alain Plattner.
2016–2017
Brittany Martin, San Jose State University, $1,000 for a masters research proposal titled Serpentinite alteration along the Maacama fault as a mechanism for fault creep under advisor Dr. Ellen Metzger.
Jessie Shields, CSU Fresno, $1,000 for a masters research proposal titled What are the pressure-temperature histories of rocks found within a single mélange? What does this tell us about the large-scale movement of material within subduction zones? under advisor Dr. John Wakabayashi.
Mark Szymanski, Humboldt State University, $1,000 for a masters research proposal titled Understanding how mafic volcanic fields form on thick continental crust under advisor Dr. Brandon Browne.
J. Scott Padgett, University of Rhode Island, $2,000 for a PhD research proposal titled Changes in fossil foraminiferal faunas suggest variable subsidence during great earthquakes at northern Humboldt Bay, California under advisor Dr. Simon Engelhart.
2015–2016
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Tyler Barnes, Moss Landing Marine Labs; Amanda Erling, CSU Chico, and Casey Polon, CSU Fresno.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Alexander Nereson, UC Santa Cruz.
2014–2015
Nathan Dickey, CSU Northridge, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Investigation of late Pleistocene glaciations in the Trinity Alps of northern California using 10Be cosmogenic dating and numerical modeling under advisor Dr. Richard V. Heermance.
Jan Weninger, UC Davis, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled The plutonic rocks of the Smartville Complex under advisor Dr. Charles E. Lesher.
Kristen Fauria, UC Berkeley, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Decoding the effects of lithology on topography in a soil-mantled landscape under advisor Dr. William E. Dietrich.
2013–2014
Kevin M. DeLano, Central Washington University, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Geologic mapping in the northern Eastern California Shear Zone, California: Testing a kinematic and geometric fault slip transfer model under advisor Dr. Jeffrey Lee.
Edween Hernandez, CSU Fullerton, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Multidisciplinary study of the Paleozoic to modern fauna transition, Favret Canyon, Augusta Mountain, west-central Nevada under advisor Dr. Phil Armstrong.
Emily A. Orzechowski, UC Berkeley, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Paleoecological reconstruction of the Last Interglacial Maximum (~130 ka) in California using U-Th dating and geochemical temperature proxies on late Pleistocene fossiliferous terraces under advisor Dr. Seth Finnegan.
2012–2013
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Monica Leopold, CSU San Jose, and William Pilesky, CSU Fullerton.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Alexander Steely, U.C. Santa Cruz.
2011–2012
Leslie Moclock, UC Davis, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Kinematic analysis of the Northern Bear Mountains fault zone, Sierra Nevada foothills under advisor Dr. Sarah Roeske.
Michelle Gevedon, CSU Fullerton, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Multi-isotopic analysis of magmatic zircon from mafic rocks across the Sierra Nevada: Addressing tectonic models with geochemistry under advisor Dr. Diane Clemens-Knott.
Scott Bennett, UC Davis, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Testing the role of rift obliquity in rupturing continental lithosphere: Dating rift-related transtensional structures in the northern Gulf of California under advisor Dr. Michael Oskin.
2010–2011
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Freddie Santistevan, UC Berkeley.
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Lindsey Clark, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Ryan Fay, CSU East Bay.
Alan Chapman, Caltech, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Late Cretaceous gravitational collapse of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith and adjacent areas above underplated schists, southern California under advisor Dr. Jason Saleeby.
2009–2010
Juanita Muniz, CSU Fresno, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Paleomagnetism and geochemistry of the trachyandesite of Kennedy Table: Source, age and implications for Sierra Nevada uplift under advisor Dr. Christopher Pluhar.
Anna Glen Brody, CSU Fresno, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled GIS mapping of rockfall debris in Yosemite Valley using high resolution LiDAR data under advisor Dr. Christopher Pluhar.
Julie A. Smith, CSU Sacramento, $1,000 for a masters proposal.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Kaitlin Clare Maguire, UC Berkeley, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Understanding the paleoecology and niche dynamics of mammals in the Mascall fauna (middle Miocene), Oregon under advisor Dr. Anthony Barnosky.
2008–2009
Chad Carlson, CSU Fresno, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Re-dating of andesitic and basaltic flows in and around the confluences of the North, Middle and South Forks of the San Joaquin River using Argon/Argon analysis under advisor Dr. John Wakabayashi.
Lisa Jacob, UC Davis, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Salinity changes in an estuary—Using the geochemistry of benthic foraminiferal shells to develop a Ba/Ca relationship for Tomales Bay, CA under advisor Dr. Ann D. Russell.
Luke Martin, Southern Oregon University, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Determining provenance of rock fragments within conglomerates of the Payne Cliffs Formation (Eocene), Southwestern Oregon and Northern California under advisor Dr. Bill Elliott.
Daniel McCuan, CSU Bakersfield, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Developing the methods and techniques for radiometric dating using Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP/MS) under advisor Dr. Staci Lowy.
Christopher Bowles, UC Davis, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Identifying old marine terraces through topographic and geologic analysis near Fort Ross, California under advisor Dr. Eric Cowgill.
Joshua Goodman, CSU San Francisco, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Mapping a sequence of deformed Plio-Pleistocene lacustrine and alluvial sediments in the Confidence Hills, Death Valley National Park, California under advisor Dr. S. John Caskey.
Richard Lease, UC Santa Barbara, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Topographic evolution of the sourthern Sierra Nevada: How much relief was generated since the late Miocene? under advisor Dr. Bodo Bookhagen.
2007–2008
Kathryn Quigley, UC Berkeley, $500 for an undergraduate proposal on the slow-moving landslides of the Berkeley hills under advisor Dr. Roland Bürgmann.
Kean Bliss, CSU San Diego, $1,000 for a masters proposal titled Evaluation of XRD and Raman peak broadening in shock metamorphosed calcite and dolomite from selected carbonate target bolide impact structures under advisor Dr. Jared Morrow.
Abigail Stephens, Oregon State University, $1,000 for a masters proposal titledThe Lights Creek Stock copper deposits: porphyry copper or evaporitic-source copper iron-oxide mineralization under advisor Dr. John Dilles.
Beth Ann Wisely, University of Oregon, $2,000 for a PhD proposal titled Monitoring aquifer deformation in the Klamath Basin, Northern California: Remote characterization using InSAR and well level data under advisor Dr. Katharine Cashman.
2006–2007
Sharon Bywater (now Bywater-Reyes), Southern Oregon University, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Petrographic analysis of sandstone concretions in the Upper Cretaceous Hornbrook Formation, Siskiyou County, California under advisor Dr. William Elliott, Jr.
Kamala Brown, CSU Sacramento, $750 for a masters proposal titled Groundwater storage in a mountain meadow, northern Sierra Nevada, California under advisor Dr. Kevin Cornwell.
Steven Springhorn, CSU Sacramento, $750 for a masters proposal titled Stratigraphic analysis and hydrogeologic characterization of Cenozoic strata in the Sacramento Valley near the Sutter Buttes under advisor Dr. Brian Hausback.
Jeanette Hagan, UC Santa Barbara, $1,000 for a PhD proposal titled Carson Pass, Sierra Nevada: Geologic mapping of Tertiary arc-related volcanics and range-front faulting, coupled with Ar/Ar dating of volcanism and geochemical analysis under advisor Dr. Cathy Busby.
Elizabeth Cassel, Stanford University, $1,000 for a PhD proposal.
2005–2006
Holly Olson, CSU San Francisco, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Temporal and spatial variations of coastal marine terrace deposits along the coast of the Point Reyes Peninsula under advisor Dr. Karen Grove.
Emily Fudge, CSU Humboldt, $750 for a masters proposal titledTectonic history and bulk geochemistry analysis of the Grey Rocks outlier, Klamath Mountains, California under advisor Dr. Susan M. Cashman.
2004–2005
Sunshine Mansfield, CSU Humboldt, $500 for an undergraduate proposal titled Structural and petrologic investigation of the Cooksie shear zone, Mendocino triple junction, California.
Christen Rowe, UC Santa Cruz, $1,000 for a PhD proposal titled Fluid-assisted metamorphism along a dismembered fragment of the Coast Range thrust, Ring Mountain, Marin County, California.
2003–2004
Ryan Alward, CSU Chico, $500 for a senior proposal titled Facies analysis of the Tuscan Formation, northern Sacramento Valley, California, under advisor Dr. Morgan Sullivan.
1999–2000
The undergraduate recipient ($250) was David Benner, UC Davis.
The Masters recipient ($450) was Lin Murphy, CSU Hayward.
1997–1998
Undergraduate recipients ($300) were Benjamin Crosby, UC Berkeley, and Mel Strong, CSU Sacramento.
1996–1997
The undergraduate recipient ($250) was Andrew Eriksson, CSU San Francisco.
The Masters recipient ($300) was Daniel A. Parsons, Sonoma State University.
The PhD recipient ($500) was Deirdre Scholar, UC Santa Cruz.
1995–1996
Undergraduate recipients were Michael Parsons, Stanford University ($250), Michael Poland, UC Davis ($300), and Laura Samrod[?], CSU Hayward ($500).
1994–1995
The undergraduate recipient ($250) was Katherine (Kate) Laddish, UC Davis.
The Masters recipient ($300) was Richard Keohler, Humboldt State University.
The PhD recipient ($500) was Erik Melchiorre, Washington University.
1993–1994
The Masters recipient ($200) was Brian Thompson, UC Santa Cruz.
The PhD recipient ($500) was Erik Melchiorre, UC Davis.
1992–1993
The undergraduate recipient ($250) was Gregory Dern, CSU Humboldt.
The PhD recipient ($500) was Timothy Fagan, UC Davis.
1990–1991
Masters recipients ($500) were Kirsten Menking and Nan Rosenbloom, UC Santa Cruz.
1989–1990
The PhD recipient ($750) was Nicholas Pinter, UC Santa Barbara.
1988–1989
The PhD recipient ($500) was Raymond Beiersdorfer, UC Davis.
1987–1988
We have a record of a $500 award, but not the recipient. Please contact the webmaster if you know who this was!