PhD Student H Rainak Khan Real Awarded at OSU Hayes Research Forum and Graduate Research Proposal Competition
PhD student H Rainak Khan Real was recently awarded 2nd place at the OSU Hayes Research Forum for his presentation "From Microns to Meters: Using Remote Sensing to Understand the Spatial Ecology of Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria on the Arctic Tundra" in the math & physical sciences category. The forum "showcases the innovative and exemplary research being conducted by Ohio State graduate students and postdoctoral scholars across the full range of graduate degree programs and research topics".
He also won the Graduate Research Proposal Award Competition in the Polar Geography Specialty Group (PGSG) at the American Association of Geographers 2026 General Meeting for his presentation In-situ before in-silico: Ground-truth data collection for GeoAI-driven mapping of microbial iron cycling.
Both awards are for his collaborative work with Alex Michaud using remote sensing and machine learning to detect biogenic iron mats in the Alaskan Arctic tundra.