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:
-
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Toby Armstrong (Heather Holmes) - Exceptional Event Demonstration Tool Development
Anya Otterson (Ryan Johnson) - Assessing the efficacy of spatially continuous snow water equivalent mapping products employing machine learningCOLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
Jasmine Aguilar Lopez (Leandra Hernandez) - Atrapadxs en un Hoyo: Reproductive Justice and Environmental Health of Latina Mothers and Children in Salt Lake City Utah
COLLEGE OF MINES & EARTH SCIENCES
Preston Aiken (Gannet Hallar) - Forecasting Support for the 2025 Summer Ozone Study
Lexi Bohman (Kate Ritterbush (Allabush)) - Chambered Nautilus: Fundamental Challenges with Biomineralization Alongside Climate Change
Christopher Johanson (Alyssa Stansfield) - Exploring Changes in Tropical Cyclone Mean Rainfall Due to Climate Change
Kyle Pope (Tonie van Dam) - Monitoring Seasonal Aquifer Storage Change in the Salt Lake Valley using Repeat Microgravity and GPS Measurements
Madeline Sellers (Leif Anderson) - Updated Inventory of the Rock Glacier in the La Sal Mountains
Nate Stovak (Thomas Reichler) - Predicting Monthly to Seasonal Southwestern United States Precipitation AnomaliesCOLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Isabella Calhoun (Kasey Cole) - Using Taphonomic Analysis to Reveal Ecological Interactions and Depositional History at the Thundershower Cave Site
Bennett Davenport (Kasey Cole) - Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on the Feeding Ecology of Uinta Mountain Rodents
Kierra Forthman (Connor Bischak) - Heavy Metal-Free Green Energy Storage Devices Operating in Water-Based Electrolytes
Rylie Gagne (Jody Reimer) - Enhancing Models of Optimal Polar Bear Movement in the Arctic through Advanced Data Science and Image Processing
Lamia Hajdarevic (William Anderegg) - Impacts of Wildfire on Xylem Anatomy in Four Tree Species Located in Southwest Colorado
Gaby Karakcheyeva (William Anderegg) - Evaluating carbon isotope ratios in burned versus unburned trees during drought years
Kaitlyn Landers (Jody Reimer) - Determinants of Phalarope Numbers on Great Salt Lake
Lucy Leary (Jody Reimer) - The world in color: how different types of noise affect ecological transient dynamics
Kaylee Meyers (Austin Green) - Long and Short Term Spatiotemporal Response of Common US Mammals to Extreme Weather Events
Ili Mocuta (Austin Green) - Investigating Effects of Fine Scale Air Quality Changes on Animal Behavior
Nathan Murthy (Cagan H Sekercioglu) - Migration Path Analysis of Booted and Steppe Eagles in the African-Eurasian Flyway
Sofia Perez (Connor Bischak) - Controlling Phase Transitions in Dialkylammonium Halide Salts for Green Energy Storage
Brandt Winn (Luiza Aparecido) - Water Use of Native vs. Invasive Plants in Riparian Zones
COLLEGE OF SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Izabelle Chick (Juliet Carlisle) - Understanding the Interplay of Emotions, Risk Perception, and Climate Change: Towards Political Action and Policy Support
Rachel Christensen (Mitchell Power) - Stomatal Density as a Proxy of Changing Atmospheric Conditions in Pinus longaeva: exploring responses in stomatal conductance
Gracyn Hinojosa (Shane Macfarlan) - The Impact on Ranching Culture and Livestock Management in the Baja California Peninsula
Chris Kennedy (Andrea Brunelle) - Historic Paleoclimate Reconstruction and Dating of West Desert/Dugway Site Through Sediment Core Analysis
Natalia Lopez (Sara Grineski) - Resident Perspectives on Air Pollution and Environmental Injustice in Salt Lake County
Julie Moyano (Shane Macfarlan) - Impacts of Drought and Economic Variability on Ranch Abandonment in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Melanie Osuna (Andrea Brunelle) - The Reconstruction of Fire History in the West Desert
Sofia Price (Shane Macfarlan) - Drought Affectedness of Ranches in the Baja California Peninsula
Jailyn Primero (Susana Velasquez-Franco) - Analyzing Past Ecological Disturbances to Understand The Response of Vegetation
Alec Roberts (Monika Lohani) - A Study of Identity and Behavior in Reaction to Critical Climate Change Information Utilizing Mobile Eye Tracking in a Museum Setting
Maya Upton (Jennifer Watt) - Paleoecological History of the Bear River Massacre Site Through Pollen Analysis -
Fall 2024
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 EventsCOLLEGE 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 SCIENCE
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