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Wilkes Scholars

About the Wilkes Scholars Program

The Wilkes Scholars Program (WSP) enables outstanding undergraduate students to explore pressing climate challenges facing our state, region, and planet through transformative research. Wilkes Scholars will work with a mentor to advance research related to the mission of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy — catalyzing innovative science and solutions to address climate change.

Wilkes Scholar applications are processed through the Office of Undergraduate Research via the UROP application. Students applying for Wilkes Funds through the UROP portal will be considered simultaneous for both programs, with preference given to Wilkes.   

For more information about the Wilkes Scholars Program, visit the website: https://wilkescenter.utah.edu/funding-opportunities/wilkes-scholars/ or Contact Kyla Welch at Kyla.welch@utah.edu

  • To be eligible to receive Wilkes Scholar Program this funding, applicants must:

    • Conduct research projects in the area of climate science and/or environmental studies. Examples of relevant research include, but are not limited to, drought and water issues, climate forecasting, air quality, climate policy, fire and climate extremes, and environment and human health.
    • Provide a tenure-line or career-line faculty contact who will submit a letter of support.
    • Be matriculated, degree seeking students at the University of Utah who have completed their first year of studies (sophomore+)

  • Spring 2025: Friday, November 1st, 11:59pm

    Summer 2025: Friday, March 7th, 11:59pm

  • Apply through the UROP application process: https://our.utah.edu/urop-how-to-apply/

    • Select "Yes" on the question that asks if you are "Interested in being a Wilkes Scholar?"

     

Wilkes Scholars

Meet the Wilkes Scholar program recipients:

  • Fall 2024 Wilkes Scholar Recipients:

    COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

    Toby Armstrong (Mentor: Heather Holmes) - Advancing Wildfire Air Quality Management: Integrating TROPOMI Data for Enhanced Exceptional Event Reporting
    Kyler Pak (Mentor: Heather Holmes) - An Analysis on The Accuracy of Current Weather Forecast Models on Extreme Weather Events

    COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES

    Jasmine Aguilar Lopez (Mentor: Leandra Hernandez) - Atrapadxs en un Hoyo: Reproductive Justice and Environmental Health of Latina Mothers and Children in Salt Lake City Utah
    Eliana Massey (Mentor: Maile Arvin) - Food Sovereignty Possibilities for Pacific Islanders in Salt Lake City's West Side

    SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

    Jacob Sussman (Mentor: Katharine Walter) - Environmental niche model of Coccidioides presence using mammal distributions

    COLLEGE OF MINES AND EARTH SCHIENCE

    Autumn Hartley (Mentor: Sarah Lambart) - The Cause of Excess Magmatism in the Northern Atlantic Margin
    Drew Hooker (Mentor: Gannet Hallar) - How Wildfire Smoke as an Exceptional Events affect Human Health
    Rae Noble (Mentor: Leif Anderson) - Cosmogenic 3He Surface Dating: Alpine Glaciers of Fish Lake Plateau and Boulder Mountain, Utah
    Kyle Pope (Mentor: Tonie van Dam) - Monitoring Seasonal Aquifer Storage Change in the Salt Lake Valley using Repeat Microgravity and GPS Measurements

    COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

    Jane Damstedt (Mentor: Kasey Cole) - Using Past Ecosystems to Understand Modern Climate Change: A Case Study from Utah’s House Mountain Range
    Bennett Davenport (Mentor: Kasey Cole) - Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on the Body Size of Uinta Mountain Rodents
    Auriana Dunn (Mentor: Kasey Cole) - Comparing Historical and Modern Mammal Distribution at Bear River Basin: Has climate had an effect?
    Kierra Forthman (Mentor: Connor Bischak) - Heavy Metal-Free Green Energy Storage Devices Operating in Water-Based Electrolytes
    Rylie Gagne (Mentor: Jody Reimer) - Enhancing Models of Optimal Polar Bear Movement in the Arctic through Advanced Data Science and Image Processing
    Lucy Leary (Mentor: Jody Reimer) - The world in color: how different types of noise affect ecological transient dynamics
    Kathy Lin (Mentor: Jody Reimer) - The Dynamics of the Microbial Community within Sea Ice
    Delaney Miller (Mentor: Connor Bischak) - Organic Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductors for Green Energy Storage
    Ainsley Parkins (Mentor: Rodolfo Probst) - Unveiling Cryptic Avifauna Diversity Using Nanopore DNA Sequencing: A Case Study in the Passerine Genus Emberiza (Passeriformes: Emberizidae)
    Allie Perkins (Mentor: Talia Karasov) - Quaking Aspen Pathogen Defense in the Presence of Climate Change Related Drought
    Bitia Robles (Mentor: William Anderegg) - Evaluating the Impact of Discontinuing Carbon Credit Use and Its Effect on Corporate Emissions
    Nate Stovak (Mentor: Thomas Reichler) - Predicting Monthly to Seasonal Western U.S. Climate Anomalies
    Shaylee Whipple (Mentor: Kasey Cole) - Evaluating the Effect of Climate Change on Body Size of Animals in Owl Cave
    Brandt Winn (Mentor: Aparecido Luiza) - Water Use of Native vs. Invasive Plants in Riparian Zones

    COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

    Rachel Christensen (Mentor: Mitchell Power) - Exploring responses in the stomatal conductance of conifers using stomatal density as a proxy through changing atmospheric conditions: an analysis using Pinus longaeva.
    Riley Cummings (Mentor: Shane Macfarlan) - Impact of Natural Disasters and Climate Shocks on Risk Perception in the Baja California Peninsula
    Gracyn Hinojosa (Mentor: Shane Macfarlan) - The Impact on Ranching Culture and Livestock Management in the Baja California Peninsula
    Natalia Lopez (Mentor: Sara Grineski) - Resident Perspectives on Air Pollution and Environmental Injustice in Salt Lake Countyv
    Celeste Maybell (Mentor: Tim Collins) - Shade, Urban Heat, and Public Transportation in Tucson, Arizona
    Julie Moyano (Mentor: Shane Macfarlan) - Impacts of Drought and Economic Variability on Ranch Abandonment in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
    Melanie Osuna (Mentor: Andrea Brunelle) - UROP Proposal Fall 2024
    Sofia Price (Mentor: Shane Macfarlan) - Distribution of Ranches in the Baja California Peninsula and Drought Affectedness
    Alec Roberts (Mentor: Monika Lohani) -  A Study of Identity and Behavior in Reaction to Critical Climate Change Information Utilizing Mobile Eye Tracking in a Museum Setting