From the Brazos Valley to Oklahoma’s Tornado Alley, Texas A&M University’s student storm-chasing team checks the skies daily for threatening weather – and the chance to see Mother Nature at her very worst.

Zhibo Zhang, a doctoral candidate in Atmospheric Sciences, College of Geosciences, won the Outstanding Student Paper Award at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco. Zhang’s presentation was titled "A comparison of cirrus clouds retrieved from POLDER-3/PARASOL and MODIS/Aqua.” In honoring Zhang, AGU stated "Your presentation was recognized as among the best of a strong group of student presenters, which sets an example for your fellow students and the entire AGU membership".

Dr. Renée Heilbronner, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Basel, Switzerland, is spending spring semester at Texas A&M as the Michel T. Halbouty ’30 Visiting Chair in the College of Geosciences. Heilbronner specializes in rock deformation and microstructures. She is involved in a research group that identifies deformation processes through microstructure studies using polarizing light and electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) in naturally and experimentally deformed rocks.

Are you a Geosciences student? Do you want a job some day? Would you like to win a $500 scholarship? Then be sure to attend the Geosciences Student Association (GSA) Career Fair on Wednesday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in MSC rooms 224, 225 and 226. All students who attend will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $500 scholarship from Chevron.

Xiaoqian "Michael" Zhang, a Ph.D. student in Oceanography in the College of Geosciences, won the "Outstanding Student Presentation" award at the 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Orlando, Florida, March 2-7.

Department of Geography Ph.D. Candidate Kirk Stueve has been awarded a Discover Denali Research Fellowship for proposed research in Alaska’s 6 million acre Denali National Park. The Fellowship is funded by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Murie Science Learning Center and Denali Education Center.