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.
The NCGS funds the scholarship from a bequest by Richard W. Chambers, which added substantially to its existing scholarship program based on NCGS member contributions. In spring of 2007, the NCGS Board of Directors renamed its graduate scholarship program in his honor and increased the award amounts.
The application period is during the fall months, and awardees are announced at our January meeting.
2023–2024 Awardees
The NCGS awarded two Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarships for the 2023–2024 academic year. The recipients were:
Eden Pikowski, California State University, 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, University of California, 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.
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
This list also includes winners of previous NCGS Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships.
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, California State University, 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, California State University, 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 Ph.D. 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, University of California, 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, University of California, 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, U.C. Santa Cruz.
2014–2015
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Nathan Dickey, CSU Northridge, and Jan Weninger, U.C. Davis.
The PhD receipient ($2,000) was Kristen Fauria, U.C. Berkeley.
2013–2014
Kevin M. DeLano, Central Washington University, $1,000 for a Masters research 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 research 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, U.C. Berkeley, $2,000 for a PhD research 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, U.C. Davis, $1,000 for a Masters research 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 research 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, U.C. Davis, $2,000 for a PhD research 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, U.C. Berkeley.
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Lindsey Clark, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Ryan Fay, CSU East Bay.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Alan Chapman, Caltech.
2009–2010
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Juanita Muniz, CSU Fresno.
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Anna Glen Brody, CSU Fresno, and Julie A. Smith, CSU Sacramento.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Kaitlin Clare Maguire, U.C. Berkeley.
2008–2009
Undergraduate recipients ($500) were Chad Carlson, CSU Fresno, Lisa Jacob, UC Davis, Luke Martin, Southern Oregon University, and Daniel McCuan, CSU Bakersfield.
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Christopher Bowles, UC Davis, and Joshua Goodman, CSU San Francisco.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Richard Lease, UC Santa Barbara.
2007–2008
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Kathryn Quigley, UC Berkeley.
Masters recipients ($1,000) were Kean Bliss, CSU San Diego, and Abigail Stephens, Oregon State University.
The PhD recipient ($2,000) was Beth Ann Wisely, University of Oregon.
2006–2007
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Sharon Bywater, Southern Oregon University.
Masters recipients ($750) were Kamala Brown, CSU Sacramento, and Steven Springhorn, CSU Sacramento.
PhD recipients ($1,000) were Jeanette Hagan, UC Santa Barbara, and Elizabeth Cassel, Stanford University.
2005–2006
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Holly Olson, CSU San Francisco.
The Masters recipient ($750) was Emily Fudge, CSU Humboldt.
2004–2005
The undergraduate recipient ($500) was Sunshine Mansfield, CSU Humboldt.
The PhD recipient ($1,000) was Christen Rowe, UC Santa Cruz.
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!