Garry McKenzie & Henry Brecher Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship

Special Note:  The Byrd Center is eternally grateful for all donors to this scholarship.  We fondly remember and are thankful to Henry Brecher who passed away this summer.  Each year this scholarship has been given Henry always made sure every student who applied received funding.  Thank you, Henry!  08/22/24

Attention UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS working with Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center scientists. You are encouraged to apply for research support from the G. McKenzie & H. Brecher Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. The funds are to be used in support of your undergraduate research and may include travel/registration expenses to meetings to present research, laboratory supplies, publication costs, future fieldwork, and/or other anticipated research related expenses.  Please note that if a scholarship is received the student will need to provide a final report on the research project to the Byrd Center by giving a 20 min. talk, providing a poster, or written final report.  We ask this so others could, in the future, access your report for further research on the topic.

Applications must be submitted electronically via email. Use subject line of:  G. McKenzie & H. Brecher Undergraduate Scholarship Fund and send applications to: byrd-contact@osu.edu

Applications are due by TBD, in Fall of 2025.  Scholarship award notifications will be made TBD. 

Applications must include: (1) a one-page description of the project (please include a title), (2) a brief detailed budget, (3) a resume or CV, and (4) a letter from your advisor endorsing your project and also verifying that you will showcase your work to the Byrd Center by giving a 20 minute talk or providing a poster, or final report on your results so that others may access for further research on the topic in the future.   The Byrd Center can help w/poster printing and graphics if needed.   

Please include your contact information within your proposal (email address, phone number and advisor's name). Requests can be in the amount of $800.00 or less.  Recipient(s) will be selected by a 3-member committee.

Please contact Michele Cook with questions at cook.942@osu.edu.

Updated 10/22/2024

Past Recipients

2024:

  • Geoffrey Brown (Geography), Conducting Baseline Water Chemistry and Ecological Assessments within Quarry Trails Metro Park
  • Harrison Frenken (Engineering), Integrating Aviation and Environmental Studies: The Role of Drone Technology In Scientific Research
  • Melody Green (School of Earth Sciences), The impact of climate change on scenic rivers in Ohio
  • John Scholl (History), Heat, Smoke and Disease: Athletics in a Changing Ecology

2022:

  • Abby Dietrich (Chemical Engineering), Exploring Chemical and Hydrological Relationships in Rivers Draining Peatlands in Northwest Ireland
  • Ashley Kuhn (Geography) and Kendyl Trem (Environmental Science), Isotope Analysis of Water Samples from Great Basin National Park
  • Maria Scaccia (Earth Sciences; Hydrogeology), The Flow of Carbon in Response to Water Table Fluctuations and Flooding
  • Kyle Shoen (Earth Sciences, Hydrogeology), Field Experiments to Groundtruth Relationships between Seismic Signals and Sediment Transport in High-latitude Rivers
  • Savannah Stearmer (English), Byrd Center Flag Project

2021:

  • Chance Carafice (Engineering Physics), Mountain Drone Team Bofedales Drone Development
  • Mia Rankin (Earth Sciences), Impermeable Surface Runoff into the Olentangy River at The Ohio State University

2020:

2019:

2018:

  • Kira Harris (SES), Geomorphic and Sedimentological Controls on Hyporheic Flow in an Alpine River
  • Caitlin Monagle (SES), The Geochemistry of Soils from the Namib Desert, Africa
  • James White (Atmospheric Sciences), Preserved Charcoal as a Proxy for Wildfire Activity in Great Basin National Park

2017:

  • Rebecca Anderson (SES), Petrographic Analysis of Metamorphic Rocks from the Choshui River in Taiwan
  • Lillian Kleban (SES), Dissolution Kinetics of Volcanic Ash in Sea Water
  • John-Morgan Manos (GEOG), Annual Surface Elevation of the Lehman Rock Glacier in Great Basin National Park

2014:

  • Scott Aleshire (School of Earth Sciences, Advisor: Terry Wilson)
  • Sean O’Brien (School of Earth Sciences, Advisor: Larry Krissek)

2012:

  • Paul Soltesz (BPRC; Department of Geography, Advisor: Bryan Mark)2011:

2011:

  • Shawn Stone (BPRC; School of Environment and Natural Resources)

2009:

  • Justin Von Bargen (BPRC; School of Earth Sciences)
  • John Volk (School of Earth Sciences)