Scholarship First Student Awards in LSU Geography & Anthropology Spring 2024

The Scholarship First Geography and Anthropology Student Award Ceremony was hosted by the Research & Scholarship Committee & Department Chair on Friday April 12, 2024 in the Howe-Russell-Kniffen Geoscience Complex, with a total of $18,000 in awards announced. A reception followed. Each student awardee received a certificate at the ceremony (with the award funds sent electronically), shook hands with the Department Chair (Dr. Joyce Jackson), and had a group photo with Dean Troy Blanchard, Tianna Powers, Dr. Jackson, and the Research & Scholarship Committee (Drs. Heather McKillop, Michael Leitner, and Juliet Brophy). Friends and relatives, faculty and other students attended to celebrate the successes of our undergraduate and graduate students.

A total of 14 undergraduate prizes were awarded for papers written by current majors or minors in geography or anthropology at LSU, including the Carville Earle undergraduate paper awards, the Phil Larimore Undergraduate paper awards, and the Anthropology undergraduate paper awards. Carville Earle was a historical geographer and Department Chair. Phil Larimore was a former faculty member and cartographer. The department acknowledges generous donations for these awards.

A total of 12 graduate student awards were given at the Scholarship First Ceremony, including the William G. Haag Conference presentation prizes, the Robert C. West and R. J. Russell graduate student research awards, and the Geography and Anthropology materials award. William G. Haag was an well-known southeastern Archaeologist and professor in the department. Robert C. West was an internationally recognized human geography and also a Boyd Professor in the Department. R. J. Russell was a coastal geomorphologist and the founder of the LSU Coastal Studies Institute in 1954, along with Dr. Evelyn Pruitt who provided the funding from the US Office of Naval Studies. The Department of Geography and Anthropology is grateful for the generous donations from many people, especially Dr. Robert C. West, who provided donations that made the awards possible.

The Research and Scholarship Committee is grateful for the assistance of Tianna Powers in HSS at LSU, and Geography and Anthropology department office staff Camille Dupuis, Sarah Crabtree, and Zachary Averette.

Presented by Dr. Leitner: Carville Earle Undergraduate Paper Prizes

1st place: Ryleigh Choplin for paper “Climate Change Influences on Alpine Ice Caves in Tirol, Austria”
2nd place: Willow Cook for paper “Land and Sense of Place: Migrating and Receiving Communities”
3rd place (tied): Kendryx Periban for paper “Tornado Alley Shifting” and Rachel Seneff for paper “Pebble Mine”

Presented by Dr. McKillop: Larimore Undergraduate Paper Prizes

1st place (tied): Alaysha Leblanc for paper “3D Scanning and Fashion”, Dianney Carbajal for paper “Celebrating Life Beyond Death: A Study of Dia de los Muertos” and Sonnet Mandell for paper “Bridging the Past with the Present: Photogrammetry in Artifact Analysis”
2nd place (tied): Madelaine Dupree for paper “Frozen Preservation of Disease: Ice Mummies” and Nicholas Schmitt for paper “Christmas Ornaments and the Season”

Presented by Dr. Brophy: Anthropology Undergraduate Paper Prizes

1st place (tied): Heath Danner: “Human Longevity and influencing factors," Paula Noelia Jordan for paper “To Work One’s Tail Off: Distinguishing The Inner-Workings Of Pilonidal Disease Within A Culture Of Instant Gratification," and Rhys Borders for “Concrete Scars: Racialized Geographies in Baton Rouge Viewed through Three Roads”
2nd place (tied): Kenya Soto for “Dental Modifications through time” and Zoe Robbins for “I wanted to fly planes when I was growing up. [Joining the Air Force is] what I told people I wanted to do, but they told me I could not because I was Deaf. I wanted to serve but was told I could not.” -Jimmy Gore, Professor ASL 1001, Louisiana State University.”

Presented by Dr. McKillop: William G. Haag Graduate Student Conference Poster Awards

Krista Bennett: 1st place for poster presented at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists
Sumaiya Tul Siddique: 2nd place for poster presented at the American Geophysical Union
Gwendal A. Dolou: 3rd place for poster presented at the American Geophysical Union

Presented by Dr. Leitner: William G. Haag Graduate Student Conference Paper Awards

Ben Moss: 1st place paper presented at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists
Cher Foster: 2nd place paper presented at the South-Central Conference on Mesoamerica
Leo Guerrero Asmad: 2nd place paper presented at the 13th Symposium on River, Coastal, and Estuarine Morphodynamics

Presented by Dr. Brophy: Robert C. West Graduate Student Research Awards

Jeremy Carruth for MA thesis research in Anthropology
Margaret Furtner for doctoral dissertation research in Anthropology
Julia Johnston for MA thesis research in Anthropology
Kashif Rustamani for doctoral dissertation research in Anthropology

R. J. Russell Graduate Student Research Award

Aliya Godoy for MA thesis research in Anthropology

G&A Materials Award

Aliya Godoy for supplies for MA thesis research in Anthropology