Emily Elliott, a professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology and Environmental Science, led a cohort of students to publish research conducted alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Graduate Students
MAY 2025 - GES Pape Endowment Award
Congratulations to Poushalee Banerjee on being awarded the Arthur & Barbara Pape Endowment Award!
This award from the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE), University of Pittsburgh, for her research proposal. This grant will help further my ongoing research work on Eastern Hellbenders. This vulnerable amphibian species has been a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since December 2024.
MAY 2025 - GES PhD Student Receives NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
Congratulations to Jason Aguirre on his NSF GRFP Honorable Mention!
MAY 2025 - GES Whittington Fellowship Recipient
Whittington Fellowship in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
MAY 2025 - GES K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship Recipient
K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship
The late K. Leroy Irvis, a 1954 Pitt law school graduate, was the first Black Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County and a member of the Pennsylvania State House representing Pittsburgh for 31 years. In 1994, the University of Pittsburgh established the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowships to enhance the academic excellence and diversity of the University of Pittsburgh's graduate student body, attract the most outstanding and diverse graduate students to Pitt’s doctoral programs and prepare students for academic and research careers.
MAY 2025 - GES Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship Recipients
Congratulations to the following students on their receiving the Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship for 2025-26 academic year!
- Adnan Deshaee
- Fan Gao
- Laura Lopera Congote
MAR 2025 GES Awards Luncheon

We gathered on March 19, 2025, to honor and celebrate the relentless dedication and unwavering ambition of our GES students, who have demonstrated excellence in both academics and beyond. Congratulations to our award recipients:
NOV 2024 - Congratulations to our 2024 NASA FINESST Fellowship Awardee

Congratulations to Gabriella Zuccolotto on being awarded a 3 year NASA FINESST fellowship!
In this project, Gabi will be using remote sensing data from Landsat and Planet to build models of phycocyanin and chlorophyll to better understand harmful algal bloom dynamics in the Ohio and Illinois River Basins.