Congratulations to all those that entered the GeoPRISMS Student Prize. Of all the quality entries, this page recognizes those that were most highly rated by the judges. Many of the outstanding presentations are available to download via the links from this page.
The GeoPRISMS Prize accepts international entries from any student who can establish a topical link between their research and a stated aim of a GeoPRISMS Program Initiative. To date, winners and honorable mentions have come from both the U.S. and abroad and have gone to around the same number of male and female entrants, and poster and oral presentations.
Thank you to the Judges and the students who entered, whose efforts allow the GeoPRISMS Student Prize to take place.
Poster Presentation Winner

Kirstie Haynie – University at Buffalo, SUNY
Assessing the Generation of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake in Terms of the Dynamics of a Fore-arc Sliver System
Coauthor: M. Jadamec
From the Judges: “Kristie gave an excellent poster presentation. She explained her research clearly, motivated her work with important implications, had a well designed poster and answered questions well. She had all the components of a great presentation and exhibited a deep understanding of her research.”
Oral Presentation Winner
Rachel Marzen – Columbia University
Refraction seismic constraints on less extensive CAMP magmatism localized by prior extension in the Southeastern United States
Coauthors: D. Shillington, D. Lizarralde, S. Harder, J. Davis
From the Judges:“Rachel gave a very clear presentation on the influence of CAMP on the evolution of the South Georgia Rift Basin. The research problem was well stated”; “This talk was clearly articulated”; “Rachel has command over the seismic refraction approach. She spoke clearly and with confidence.”
Honorable Mention
Tiegan Hobbs – Georgia Institute of Technology
Investigating apparent anticorrelation of repeating aftershocks and afterslip in Nicoya, Costa Rica
Coauthors: D. Yao, A.V. Newman, Z. Peng, M. Protti
From the Judges:“Clear and polished presentation; excellent graphics/slides; effectively organized and easy to follow; clear command of the science and goals of the study; presented the significance of the main findings at the beginning and end of the presentation clearly and effectively; the results of the work were very impactful to the community; the student handled questions excellently by clarifying the question for the audience and answering in a clear and thoughtful manner;”
Honorable Mention
Andrew Gase – University of Texas at Austin
Crustal structure of the northern Hikurangi margin and Bay of Plenty from marine seismic reflection imaging and double-sided onshore-offshore seismic tomography
Coauthors:H. Van Avendonk, N. Bangs, D. Okaya, S. Henrys, D. Barker, K. Jacobs, S. Kodaira, G. Fujie
From the Judges:“This was a very crisp, clear, and efficient talk. Importance of studying northern Hikurangi margin was well established, and the new active source data (both reflections and velocities) were walked through in sequence to show interesting new observations throughout the subduction system” “Andrew gave a very competent talk summarizing early results from his analysis of SHIRE seismic reflection and refraction data traversing the northern Hikurangi margin. His talk covered well the background motivation for SHIRE, the new data acquired and results from his initial analysis.”
Honorable Mention
Brandon Shuck – Institute for Geophysics – UT Austin
From rifting to subduction: Evidence for the role of past tectonics influencing subduction initiation at the Puysegur Trench, New Zealand
Coauthors: S. Gulick, H. Van Avendonk, M. Gurnis, J. Stock, R. Sutherland, E. Hightower, J. Patel, S. Saustrup
From the Judges: “Brandon’s presentation was extremely well done.[…] He was cognizant of work being done in the same field area, as well as in different GeoPRISMS focus sites, which I think demonstrates a very mature sense of awareness. Very enthusiastic, interesting project, and excellent presentation.” “Knowledgable and engaging presentation of the results. […] Brandon sought out ways to combine multi-disciplinary constraints, consistent with the GeoPRISMS scientific goals”
Honorable Mention
Emmanuel Njinju – Virginia Tech
Investigating seismic anisotropy beneath the Malawi Rift, East Africa with geodynamic modeling
Coauthors: D.S. Stamps, S. Fishwick
From the Judges: “Emmanuel had a great poster presentation, with a clearly defined problem, and was able to explain his methods and the importance of his project quite clearly.”