Fellowship and Award Recipients

We are proud of the accomplishments of our current students and alumni. Many of our students are the recipients of prestigious fellowships & many of our alumni have gone on to have remarkable success in their careers.

Annually, we recognize a graduate with a Distinguished Alumni Award. We also have a Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series, allowing these scientists to come back and talk to the department about their lives and research.

Distinguished Alumni Award

  • 2015 Dr. David Dewitt, 1994 Ph.D.
  • 2014 Dr. Rachel Pinker, 1976 Ph.D
  • 2012 Dr. Kurt Mobley, 1977 Ph.D.
  • 2011 Dr. Oreste Reale, 1996 Ph.D.
  • 2010 Dr. Jae Schemm, 1981 Ph.D.
  • 2009 Dr. Paul Dirmeyer, 1992 Ph.D.
  • 2008 Dr. Benjamin Kirtman, 1993 Ph.D.
  • 2007 Dr. Ming Ji, 1989 Ph.D.
  • 2006 Dr. Diane Seidel, 1992 Ph.D.
  • 2005 Dr. Muthuvel Chelliah, 1985 Ph.D.
  • 2004 Dr. Mitch Goldberg, 2009 Ph.D.
  • 2003 Dr. Ken Pickering, 1987 Ph.D.
  • 2002 Dr. Phil Arkin, 1984 Ph.D.

Fellowship Recipients

Student Year Fellowship Advisor
Joseph Knisely  2021 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Jonathan Poterjoy
Ellen Buckley 2021 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Sinead Farrell
Steven Fons 2021 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Nathan Kurtz/James Carton
Eli Dennis 2021 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Hugo Berbery
Emmanuel Dibia 2021 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Xin-Zhong Liang
Samuel Varga 2021 Outstanding Service to the Undergraduate Program  
Akanksha Singh 2021 Outstanding Service to the Graduate Program Timothy Canty
Dolly Hall 2021 Outstanding Student Seminar Russell Dickerson
Tianning Su 2021 Dissertation Excellence Award Zhanqing Li
Vitaly Kholodovsky 2021 Publication Excellence Award Xin-Zhong Liang
Tianning Su 2021 Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowship  Zhanqing Li
Justin Hicks 2020 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Jonathan Poterjoy
Henry Hausmann 2020 Leah Thornton Lozano Graduate Fellowship Ning Zeng
Lindsey Rodio 2020 Leah Thornton Lozano Graduate Fellowship Timothy Canty
Jack Cahill 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Service to the Undergraduate Program Ralph Kahn
Hannah Daley 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Service to the Graduate Program Russell Dickerson
Rebecca Eager 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Student Seminar Sumant Nigam
Tianning Su 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Peer-Reviewed Publication Zhanqing Li
Austin Hope 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement Ross Salawitch
Agniv Sengupta 2020 Helmut Landsberg Award for Outstanding Dissertation Sumant Nigam
Eviatar Bach 2020 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Eugenia Kalnay, Safa Mote
Seth Thompson 2020 Henry Fleming Scholarship Roya Bahreini ,
Andreas Beyersdorf
Emily Blumenauer 2020 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Michael Erickson, James Nelson
Samuel Varga 2020 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship  
Ellen Buckley 2020 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Sinead Farrell
Niko Fedkin 2020 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Dickerson, Krotkov, C. Li
Katherine Junghenn 2020 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Kahn, Z. Li
Deirdre Dolan 2020 Ferd Baer Graduate Mentorship Award Michael Folmer, Joseph Phillips, Joseph Sienkiewicz
Justin Hicks 2020 Ferd Baer Graduate Mentorship Award Nigam, Ruiz-Barradas
Lindsey Rodeo 2020 Ferd Baer Graduate Mentorship Award Canty
Savannah Shaul 2020 Berince and Susan Tennenbaum Prize in Climate Science Santiago Gasso
Jill Freedman 2020 Berince and Susan Tennenbaum Prize in Climate Science Timothy Canty
Nicole Oehlmann 2020 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship Timothy Canty
Emmanuel Dibia 2019 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Xin-Zhong Liang, Daryl Kleist
Agniv Sengupta 2019 Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Sumant Nigam
William Miller 2019 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Da-Lin Zhang
Deirdre Dolan 2019 Henry Fleming Scholarship Michael Folmer, Joseph Phillips, Joseph Sienkiewicz
Greta Easthom 2019 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Safa Motesharrei, Jeffry Henrikson
Tyler Richman 2019 Berince and Susan Tennenbaum Prize in Climate Science Rudiosky, Peterson
Matthew Nicholson 2019 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Meyers
Shaun Howe 2019 Ferd Baer Graduate Mentorship Award Zeng
Kriti Bhargava 2019 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Kalnay, Carton
Steven Fons 2019 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Carton
Takuma Yoshida 2019 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Kalnay, Penny
Tianning Su 2019 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Tianning Su
Ryan Bolt 2019 GS Summer Research Fellowship Liang
Agniv Sengupta 2019 Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Nigam
Clairisse Reiher 2019 Hollings Scholarship Canty, Kahn
Jack Cayhill 2019 Hollings Scholarship Canty
Maya Fields 2019 Hollings Scholarship Canty
Austin Hope 2019 Leah Thornton Lozano Graduate Fellowship Salawitch/Canty
Neal Graham 2019 Lozano Endowment Miralles-Wilhelm
Adria Schwarber 2018 Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowship S. Smith, Salawitch
Keenan Eure 2018 Henry Fleming Scholarship Kalnay
Deirdre Dolan 2018 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship LT Phillips
Cody Snell 2018 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Manikin, Kleist
Monique Robinson 2018 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Yaros
Kevin Dougherty 2018 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Abarca, Kleist
Cheng Da 2018 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program Kalnay
Tyler Boyle 2018 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Debra E. Kollonige, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson
Grant Tipton 2018 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Ralph Kahn, Tim Canty
Cheng Da 2019 Green Fund Scholarship Award Kalnay
Cory Martin 2018 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Zeng
Agniv Sengupta 2019 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Nigam
Natalie Thomas 2018 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Nigam
Cory Martin 2018 Green Fund Scholarship Award Zeng
Natalie Thomas 2018 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Nigam
Adria Schwarber 2018 Green Fund Scholarship Award Smith, Salawitch
Casey Joseph 2018 Ferd Baer Graduate Mentorship Award Lampkin
Joshua McCurry 2018 CMNS Deans Fellowship Poterjoy
Justin Hicks 2018 CMNS Deans Fellowship Nigam
Hannah Daley 2018 CMNS Deans Fellowship Dickerson
Siyu Shan 2018 CMNS Deans Fellowship Z. Li
Hannay Daley 2018 Lozano Endowment Dickerson
Youtong Zheng 2017 Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Z. Li
Travis Sluka 2017 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Kalnay
Yunyao Li 2017 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Pickering
Austin Hope 2017 Green Fund Scholarship Award Salawitch
Casey Cavanagh 2017 Green Fund Scholarship Award Lampkin
Tse-Chun Chen 2017 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Award Kalnay
Keenan Eure 2017 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship Kalnay
Kelsey Malloy 2017 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Berndt, Folmer, Phillips, Sienkiewicz
Ryan Bolt 2017 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Canty, Kahn
Jonathan Seibert 2017 Henry Fleming Scholarship Knapp
Charles CJ Vernon 2017 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Canty, Kahn
Stephanie Pennington 2017 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Hartin
Agniv Sengupta 2017 Leah Thornton Lozano Graduate Fellowship Nigam
Liam Leslie 2017 CMNS Deans Fellowship Dickerson
Ryan Bolt 2017 CMNS Deans Fellowship Liang
Tyler Wawrzyniak 2017 CMNS Deans Fellowship Zhang, Zou
Emmanuel Dibia 2017 CMNS Deans Fellowship Kleist, Liang
Ellen Buckley 2017 CMNS Deans Fellowship Farrel
Eviatar Bach 2017 University of Maryland, Flagship Fellowship Kalnay
Emmanuel Dibia 2017 NCAS Fellowship Liang, Kleist
Stehpanie Bennington 2017 Bernice and Susan Tannenbaum Prize in Climate Science Corrine Hartin
David New 2017 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Liang
Emmanuel Dibia 2017 NCAS Fellowship Liang
Marissa Dattler 2016 Henry E. Fleming Undergraduate Scholarship Award Farrell, Newman
Daniel Anderson 2016 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Dickerson, Salawitch
Daniel Anderson 2016 CMNS Board of Visitors Outstanding Graduate Student Award Dickerson, Salawitch
Youtong Zheng 2016 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Z. Li
Sarah Bensish 2016 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Dickerson
William Miller 2016 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Zhang
Travis Sluka 2016 Ann Wylie Green Fund Fellowship Kalnay
Gina Mazzuca 2016 Green Fund Fellowship Dickerson, Pickering
Youtong Zheng 2016 Ann Wylie Green Fund Fellowship Z. Li
Travis Sluka 2016 Brin Professorship Award Kalnay
Lynn Montgomery 2016 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship N. Schmerr
Casey Joseph 2016 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Lampkin
Lynn Montgomery 2016 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship N. Schmerr
David New 2016 Leah Thornton Lozano Graduate Fellowship Liang
Youtong Zheng 2016 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad Z. Li
Dylan Jeffrey 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Kleist
Steven Fons 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Carton, Kurtz
Shaun Howe 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Zeng
Kanishk Gohil 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Kleist
Casey Joseph 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Lampkin
Steven Fons 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Lampkin
Steven Fons 2016 CMNS Deans Merit Award Carton, Kurtz
Sijal Dangol 2016 CMNS Deans Fellowship Liang
Adam Greeley 2015 Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Carton, Kurtz
Fang Zhao 2015 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship N. Zeng
Grace Duke 2015 Henry E. Fleming Undergraduate Scholarship Mike Evans
Abagail Alhert 2015 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Michael Winton
Colleen Wilson 2015 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Michael Folmer
Allison Ring 2015 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Lampkin
Travis Sluka 2015 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Kalnay
Dan Goldberg 2015 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award Dickerson, Salawitch, Canty
William Miller 2015 Ann Wylie Green Fund Scholarship Zhang
Michael Natoli 2015 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship Berbery
Abigail Ahlert 2015 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship Winton
Katherine Junghenn 2015 Deans Fellowship Z. Li
Ambrish Sharma 2015 Deans Fellowship Salawitch
Ambrish Sharma 2015 Merit Award Salawitch
Lei Zhang 2015 Deans Fellowship Z. Li
Sarah Benish 2015 Deans Fellowship Salawitch
Casey Cavanagh 2015 CMNS Deans Fellowship

Zeng

Antonio Larios Huerta 2015 CMNS Deans Fellowship Ide

Natalie Thomas

2015 National Defense and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Nigam
David New 2015 Green Fund Scholarship Award Liang
Katherine O'Brien 2014 Henry E. Fleming Undergraduate Scholarship Berbery
Michael Natoli 2014 Rick Jordan Undergraduate Scholarship Berbery
Kristy Weber 2014 Louis Allen Undergraduate Scholarship Zeng
Adam Greeley 2014 Green Fund Fellowship Carton, Markus
Katherine Lukens 2014 Green Fund Fellowship Berbery
Travis Sluka 2014 Brin Professorship Award Kalnay
Warren Porter 2014 Deans Fellowship Jin
Agniv Sengupta 2014 CMNS Deans Fellowship Nigam
Matthew Wespetal 2014 Deans Fellowship Kalnay
Jeremy Kedziora 2014 Deans Fellowship Kleist
Jeremy Kedziora 2014 Merit Award Kleist
Jeremy Kedziora 2014 Merit Award Kleist
Natalie Thomas 2014 Deans Fellowship Nigam
Daniel Nielsen 2014 Deans Fellowship Zhang
Daniel Anderson 2014 AGU Outstanding Super Paper Dickerson
Agyro Kavvada 2014 Eugene Rasmusson Fellowship Nigam
Stephen Baxter 2013 Eugene Rasmusson Award Nigam
Fang Zhao 2013  Green Fund Fellowship Zeng
Cory MArtin 2013 Deans Fellowship Zeng
Tse-Chun Chen 2013 Deans Fellowship Kalnay
Kriti Bhargava 2013 Deans Fellowship Carton, Kalnay
Cory Martin 2013 Merit Award Zeng
Adria Schwarber 2013 Deans Fellowship Salawitch, Smith
Walter Tribett 2013 Henry E. Fleming Undergraduate Scholarship Zeng
Neal Graham 2013 Deans Fellowship Moralles Wilhelm
Amy Solomon 2013 Deans Fellowship Lampkin
Stefan Cecelski 2012 Eugene Rasmusson Award Zhang
Stephen Baxter 2012 Summer Research Scholarship Nigam
Austin Hope 2012 Merit Award Salawitch
Austin Hope 2012 Deans Fellowship Salawitch
Katherine Lukens 2012 Deans Fellowship Berbery
Travis Sluka 2012 Deans Fellowship Kalnay
David New 2012 Deans Fellowship Lian
William Miller 2012 Deans Fellowship Zhang
Stephen Baxter 2012 CMNS Deans Fellowship NIGAM
Cecelski, Stefan 2011 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Zhang
Anderson, Daniel 2011 Flagship Fellowship Dickerson
Greeley, Adam 2011 University Fellowship Nigam
Zhao, Fang 2011 Deans Fellowship Pickering
Johnson, Benjamin 2011 Green Fund Scholarship Award Carton
Shea, Dustin 2011 Deans Fellowship Zhang
Deng, Yanting 2011 Deans Fellowship Li
Rebekah Esmaili 2011 Deans Fellowship Tian/Zeng
Anderson, Danie 2011 Flagship Fellowship Dickerson
Xiaolei Niu 2010 Anne Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Pinker
Matus Martini 2010 Green Fellowship Allen/Pickering
Baxter, Sephen 2010 AMS Graduate Fellowship Nigam
Zhang, Ying 2010 Deans Fellowship Ide
Flynn, Clare 2010 Deans Fellowship Pickering
Benjamin Johnson 2010 Deans Fellowship Zeng
Foley, Jordan 2010  Deans Fellowship Zhang
Martini, Matus 2010 Global Climate Change Award Allen/Pickering
Ganehshan, Manisha 2009 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Fellowship Murtugudde
Sawyer, Virginia 2009 UMCP Block Grant Fellowship Li, Z.
Johnson, Benjamin 2009 UMCP Block Grant Fellowship Carton/Salawitch
Bollasina, Massimo 2009 Anne Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Nigam
Cummings, Kristin 2009 AMS Graduate Fellowship Pickering
Bollasina, Massimo 2009 CMPS Green Fund Award Nigam
James Cipriani 2008 UMPC Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Pickering
Nussbaumer, Eric 2008 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Scholarship Pinker
James Reagen 2008 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Nigam/Carton
Edward Nowottnick 2007 NASA Earth System Science Fellowship Colarco/Li
Lei Zhou 2007 NASA Earth System Science Fellowship Murtugudde
Christopher Loughner 2007 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Allen/Dickerson
David Kuhl 2007 NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program Fellowship Szunyogh
Bin Guan 2007 Anne Wylie Dissertation Fellowship Nigam
Steven Ggeybush 2007 AMS Graduate Fellowship Kalnay
Brian Cook 2007 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Zeng
Elena Yegorova 2006 EPA Star Fellowship Dickerson
Alan Kohn 2006 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Carton
Ji-Sun Kang 2006 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Kalnay
Lei Zhou 2006 UMCP Graduate School Block Grant Fellowship Murtugudde
Debra Baker 2005 NSF Graduate Fellowship Kalnay
Hezekiah Carty 2005 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Fellowship Nigam/Smith
Schott Rabenhorst 2005 NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program Fellowship Whiteman/Zhang
Steven Chan 2004 NASA Earth System Science Fellowship Nigam
Brian Vant-Hull 2004 NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program Fellowship Li
David Kuhl 2004 NIA Fellowship Szunyogh

 

Faculty Awards

 

Russ Dickerson

  • AGU Fellow
  • AAAS Fellow

Eugenia Kalnay

  • WMO/IMO Prize for 2009, see talk Population and Climate Change: A Proposal (also in Spanish)
  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (1996)
  • Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea (2000)
  • Distinguished University Professor, UMD (2001)
  • Eugenia Brin Professor in Data Assimilation (2008)
  • Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Buenos Aires (2008)
  • Corresponding member of the Argentine National Academy of Physical Sciences (2003)
  • Fellow of AGU (2005), AAAS (2006), AMS (1983)
  • UMD-wide Kirwan Award (2006)
  • Robert E. Lowry Chair, School of Meteorology, U. of Oklahoma (1998)
  • NASA medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1981)
  • Two Department of Commerce Gold and one Silver Medal
  • Discovery Magazine selected her Nature paper as a top 100 science news of 2003 (see feature in International Association for Urban Climate newsletter)
  • The Reanalysis paper of 1996 is the most cited paper in all geosciences (more that 10 thousand citations)
  • Lorenz AGU 2012 Lecture 
  • 2015 AMS Joanne Simpson Mentorship Award for For effectively mentoring many early career scientists, with her unstinting generosity of time and attention in providing advice, encouragement, leadership, and inspiration
  • 2015 AMS Honorary Member Award
  • 2015: AMS Eugenia Kalnay Symposium

Zhanqing Li

Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm

  • Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),
  • Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. 

Da-Lin Zhang

  • 2006, 2015: NASA's Group Achievement Award. 
  • 2006: Fellow, American Meteological Society
  • 1997: Fellow, Royal Meteorological Society. 
  • 1991: Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award, American Meteorological Society

 

AAAS Fellow

  • Dickerson
  • Kalnay
  • Baer
  • Li
  • Salawitch

 

AGU Fellow

  • Kalnay
  • Busalacchi
  • Dickerson
  • Li

 

AMS Fellow

  • Arkin
  • Baer                
  • Busalacchi        
  • Carton
  • Kalnay
  • Nigam
  • Rasmussen
  • Vernekar
  • Zhang
  • Pinker
  • Li

 

Yoram J. Kaufman Award, AGU

  • Salawitch
  • Zhanqing Li

 

Humboldt Research Award, Germany              

  • Li

Alexander Von Humboldt fellow, Germany

  • Zeng

 

Distinguished Research Scientist Prize

  • Arkin
  • Pickering
  • Vinnikov

 

UMD Distinguished Scholar Teacher Award

  • Salawitch