The Freedman Prize, originally named the Freedman Prize in Geochemistry, is a competitive award established by Drs. Allen and Judy Freedman in 2002 to recognize superior student-faculty collaborative research in the Geology and Environmental Sciences (GESC) program. Based on the success of the research conducted in the GESC program, the Freedmans expanded the focus of the Freedman Prize in 2004 to include student-faculty work from all majors across campus. At present, the awards are focused in three general areas of study: 1) physical and life sciences, 2) cognitive sciences, and 3) theater arts. Funds of the Physical and Life Sciences Freedman Prize support the research costs incurred by student and faculty (travel, field work, sample preparation, and analytical costs). Despite the much larger applicant pool for the Freedman Prize today, geology majors and minors regularly win this award.
2016 Freedman Prize Winners in Geology
Winner: Ali Jaber ‘17 (Geology major)
Project: Analogue modeling of rock hydrofracturing.
Project Advisor: Dr. Eric Johnson
Winner: Samuel Nowak ‘17 (Geology major)
Project: Gold-mineralization in the greenstone belts of northern Minnesota.
Project Advisor: Dr. Eric Johnson
Winner: Nicole Mehr ‘17 (Geology major)
Project: The soil water chemistry of select hemlock wooly adelgid affected forests in New York.
Project Advisor: Dr. Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad
Winner: Kyle Smart ‘17 (Geology major)
Project: Silicate mineral weathering by folic acids.
Project Advisor: Dr. Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad
2015 Freedman Prize Winner in Geology
Winner: Skylar Kortright ‘17 (Geology major)
Project: Unusual occurrences of stromatolites in Pleistocene reefs, San Salvador Island, Bahamas.
Project Advisor: Dr. David Griffing
2014 Freedman Prize Winners in Geology
Winner: Jessica Domino ‘15 (Geology major)
Project: Modeling magma mixing at Andrews Point, Massachusetts.
Project Advisor: Dr. Eric Johnson
Winner: Brian Redder ’15 (Environmental Chemistry major/Geology minor )
Project: The effect of woolly adelgid-caused hemlock mortality on nitrate and phosphate mobility.
Project Advisor: Dr. Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad
