George R. Aiken Graduate Fellowship

Application deadline

Applications are due June 15 each year. Funding duration is for one year starting in the fall.

Contact us

For questions about this funding opportunity, contact Sarah Spaulding.

Eligibility

You must be a current or incoming Masters and/or PhD student at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder doing water-related research in one of the following departments and programs:

Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Environmental Engineering
Environmental Studies
Geography
Geological Sciences

The recipient of the Aiken Fellowship will contribute a news article to INSTAAR about how the funding is used.

The proposal must be for a future need, that is, funds may not be applied retrospectively to past expenses.

2023-2024 Aiken Fellows

Millie Spencer smiles while standing on the sunny summit of Cerro El Plomo (17,795 feet) in Central Chile. Behind the rocky summit is a prominent glacier, with a background of mountain peaks with more glaciers and snowfields. She is wearing a green jacket, blue knit hat, and mirrored glacier glasses

Aiken Fellowship report 鈥� Millie Spencer

Grad student Millie Spencer (Geography) used her Aiken Fellowship to travel to Chile for a project combining glacier mapping, water supply, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (including with the Mapuche).

Grad student Mackenzie Bowden, wearing thick mitts, places a sample of an urban material, like PVC pipes, into a lab oven where it will be combusted under controlled conditions and its ash leached into water and measurements made

Aiken Fellowship report 鈥� Mackenzie Bowden

Grad student Mackenzie Bowden (Environmental Engineering)听is using her Aiken Fellowship to investigate contaminants from fires at the wildland-urban interface that work their way into streams.

Squatting next to an opened manhole cover on a green campus lawn, a research partner holds a long pole with an attached water sample cup and tips it into a funnelled container held by a rubber-glove wearing Alli Cook. This is one of many water samples that Alli gathered from 麻豆免费版下载Boulder storm sewers.

Aiken Fellowship report 鈥� Allison Cook

Grad student Allison Cook (Environmental Engineering) used her Aiken Fellowship to investigate E. coli contamination in 麻豆免费版下载campus storm sewers, helping identify sources and guide mitigation efforts.

Tim Higgins hikes across a very long rope bridge at tree top level in the rainforest in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

Aiken Fellowship report 鈥� Tim Higgins

Grad student Tim Higgins (ATOC) used his Aiken Fellowship to travel to the World Climate Research Program conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

George Richard Aiken (1951-2016)

George Richard Aiken

This Fellowship honors George R. Aiken, who made significant contributions to our understanding of aquatic ecosystems during his 40-year career as an organic geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 听

George was a distinguished organic biogeochemist and long-time researcher with the USGS National Research Program. Over his career, George's research took him from the Dry Valleys in Antarctica to the Yukon River in Alaska, from the Florida Everglades to the Sacramento River Delta. George earned his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Rutgers University in 1973 and joined the U.S. Geological Survey in 1976 while he was a graduate student at the 麻豆免费版下载. He received his MS in Analytical Chemistry from 麻豆免费版下载Boulder in 1979 and completed a PhD in Applied Chemistry with a minor in Geologic Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in 1991.

More about George

George was a national and international leader in the study of dissolved organic matter. His colleagues could always count on him for a good conversation about environmental science; as one of them said, "He never completely shut off his inner scientist." The conversation was even better if it took place over a good pizza. His work influenced many areas of inquiry, including the cycling of mercury in aquatic ecosystems. He was one of the first researchers anywhere to recognize that the methylation of mercury and its bioaccumulation in the aquatic food web was inextricably linked to the presence of dissolved organic carbon.

George prepares for a day of fieldwork.

George believed in the power of collaboration to solve complex environmental problems. He generously shared his enthusiasm and ideas with colleagues and students alike and his generosity helped forge the careers of many young scientists. Over the course of his career with the U.S. Geological Survey, George advised over 20 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He sat on numerous thesis committees, served as an editor for peer-reviewed journals, and published 148 peer-reviewed journal articles which have been cited over 11,000 times (and counting). The outstanding quality of his work and his many fruitful collaborations earned him the respect and affection of colleagues around the world and of the many graduate students he employed in his capacity as a National Research Program Project Chief.

As a USGS scientist, George valued scientific integrity above all else. In 2001, he received the Department of Interior's Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his dedication to the USGS and his unwavering commitment to advancing earth science in the public interest. His mission in life was to share his exploration of biogeochemical processes, his passion for environmental science and his commitment to good stewardship of Earth's resources. He was, a friend observed, "a stellar curious being, full of big ideas and questions and light." George lived joyfully on the planet and marveled at its natural wonders every day.

Image of George taken from a 2012 video "Organic Carbon and the World around Us" by the听.

Application instructions

Assemble your application as a single PDF document, numbering the three sections as below. Name your file as YourLastName.pdf and email it to sarah.spaulding@colorado.edu听before the June 15 deadline. Please include the words "Aiken Fellowship" in your email subject line.

We encourage applications from students from diverse backgrounds.听

A review panel composed of 麻豆免费版下载faculty and USGS scientists will evaluate the applications, scoring each element according to the schema:听

1. Basic information (10 points)

Name听
Degree program听
Expected graduation date听
Graduate advisor
Express financial need of funds听

2. Research statement (10 points)

Do not exceed 1 page in length. Provide a statement of your broad educational interests and goals. This statement should express your desire and ability to work collaboratively to answer clear, scientifically relevant questions in earth science.

3. Proposed activities (10 points)

Do not exceed 1 page in length. Describe the water-related activities that you will accomplish with the Aiken Fellowship funds. This could include fieldwork, conference travel, sample analyses, or other non-equipment needs.

If you are awarded the Aiken Fellowship, funds will be administered through INSTAAR, including all purchases and any contracts with USGS. Any tuition or salary awards will be deposited into your 麻豆免费版下载Bursars account.听

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