ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) congratulates master's student Cissy Ming and doctoral student Behnaz Hosseini for being named as the 2022 recipients of the Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship. This highly competitive scholarship, which is awarded to women pursuing graduate degrees in geoscience, provides each recipient with a $5,000 award for one academic year.
 
Cissy Ming is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research investigates why hypolimnetic oxygenation, a recent innovation in water treatment, shows widely varying levels of effectiveness for manganese removal from drinking water reservoirs. Difficult to treat by traditional chemical methods, excess manganese negatively impacts the taste of water, stains household appliances, and may cause childhood brain damage. Ming anticipates that her master's research will help improve understanding of these processes and ways to improve water quality.
 
"My path to studying geosciences was unconventional and definitely unexpected, so I am grateful for any support I receive. I am honored by AGI's recognition of my potential as a geoscientist," Ming said. "The scholarship will enable me to expand the scope of my master's research and answer additional questions about freshwater manganese cycling."

Behnaz Hosseini is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University. Her research uses high pressure-temperature experiments and numerical modeling to understand how faithfully crystals and melts record timescales of magma decompression and ascent in explosive volcanic eruptions. Next she is studying, from a volatile (H₂O, CO₂, S) perspective, the magma storage, ascent, and degassing conditions leading to the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska. Hosseini says this project will foster interdisciplinary collaborations across academic institutions and government agencies, as well as contribute to understanding of explosive volcanic eruption dynamics.
 
"I feel tremendously honored and grateful to have been awarded the prestigious Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship, a major steppingstone for me in transitioning to the next chapter of my dissertation," said Hosseini. "With this generous support, I am thrilled not only to contribute new and valuable knowledge toward our understanding of an historically important eruption, but also to continue my commitment to mentorship and outreach."
 
The Wallace Scholarship is celebrating its ninth year supporting women geoscientists in graduate school. The original bequest was given by Harriet Evelyn Wallace, who was one of the founding members of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS), a national organization and AGI Member Society that facilitates the exchange of information in the geosciences. The scholarship is awarded to the top applicants who most demonstrate a strong likelihood of success as a professional geoscientist. Learn more at https://www.americangeosciences.org/scholarships/wallacescholarship/
 
To make a tax-deductible donation to support rising women geoscientists through the Wallace Scholarship Fund, please visit https://www.americangeosciences.org/donate
 
About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional associations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.
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AGI Contact:
Geoff Camphire, Communications
gac@americangeosciences.org