Esther Oyedele Named 2026 Wallace Scholarship Recipient
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Doctoral candidate Esther Oyedele has been awarded the 2026 Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship for Women Geoscience Graduate Students from the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG), with funding donated by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI). This scholarship, which is given to women who are pursuing graduate degrees in geoscience, grants each recipient with a $5,000 award for one academic year.
Ms. Oyedele is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Geosciences at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia. Her research explores the ways human-driven climate stressors are reshaping groundwater systems and how these changes can be monitored at regional to continental scales. Ms. Oyedele integrates satellite remote sensing, hydroclimate modeling, and data-driven approaches to study groundwater depletion and recovery during prolonged drought. By combining satellite-based gravity measurements and land deformation data with hydrologic models, she works to distinguish climate-driven impacts from human influences such as groundwater pumping. Her work develops reproducible, scalable methods that improve our ability to track groundwater change, reduce uncertainty, and provide early indicators, potentially supporting sustainable groundwater management and climate adaptation.
Currently serving as a research and teaching assistant at Virginia Tech, Ms. Oyedele has been a lead and contributing author on multiple publications and has made numerous presentations at academic and professional events. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Professional Geologists, AWG, The Geological Society of America, the National Association of Black Geoscientists, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
“Receiving the Harriet Evelyn Wallace Scholarship is deeply meaningful to me, especially as someone who once navigated science without clear role models or pathways,” said Ms. Oyedele. “This recognition affirms both my research and my commitment to making geoscience more accessible and inclusive. It will allow me to continue my work on water systems that communities depend on while creating more space for others to see themselves in geoscience.”
The Wallace Scholarship is celebrating 13 years of 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://cdn.ymaws.com/www.awg.org/resource/resmgr/awards/wallace_announcement.pdf
About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional organizations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the geoscience needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.
Contact: Geoff Camphire, AGI Communications gac@americangeosciences.org