DURHAM, N.C. – Five doctoral students at the Nicholas School of the Environment have been named recipients of this year’s Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Graduate Student Manuscript.

Toddi Steelman, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School, announced the winners today. They each will receive a $1000 cash prize and a framed certificate.

This year’s award recipients are:

• Erin Benson for her paper, “Crustal Fluid Contamination in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa: An Analogue for Subduction Zone Fluid Migration,” co-authored by James A.D. Connolly and Alan E. Boudreau and published online Aug. 9, 2020, in International Geology Review.
• Katy Hansen for her paper, “Avoiding Punishment? Electoral Accountability for Local Fee Increases,” co-authored by Shadi Eskaf and Megan Mullin and first published Feb. 6, 2021, in Urban Affairs Review.
• Mazen Nakad for his paper, “Taylor Dispersion in Osmotically Driven Laminar Flows,” co-authored by Jean-Christophe Domec and Gaby Katul and published online March 2, 2021, in Journal of Fluid Mechanics.
• Sarah M. Roberts for her paper, “Substrate-dependent Fish Have Shifted Less in Distribution Under Climate Change,” co-authored by Andre M. Boustany and Patrick N. Halpin and published Oct. 16, 2020 in Communications Biology, a Nature journal.
• Emily Ury for her paper, “Rapid Deforestation of a Coastal Landscape Driven by Sea Level Rise and Extreme Events,” co-authored by Xi Yang, Justin P. Wright and Emily S. Bernhardt and first published April 4, 2021, in Ecological Applications.

“I love this award because I get to read the amazing work that is being conducted by our doctoral students. The choices are always very difficult and we had many, many contenders this year,” said Steelman. “I extend my sincere congratulations to all of the winners and wish to thank all of the faculty for submitting such wonderful nominations.”

The quality of this year’s field of entries was so strong that Steelman has awarded Honorable Mentions to three additional students. They are:

• Leo Chan Gaskins for his paper, “Visible Name Changes Promote Inequity for Transgender Researchers” published in PLOS Biology; 
• Qingran Li for her paper, “Fishery Collapse Revisited” published in Marine Resource Economics; and
• Kirsten Overdahl for her paper, “Assessment of Emerging Polar Organic Pollutants Linked to Contaminant Pathways Within an Urban Estuary Using Non-Targeted Analysis” published in Environmental Sciences: Processes & Impacts.

The Nicholas School has presented the Dean’s Awards for Best Graduate Student Manuscript annually since 2008 to recognize excellence in graduate student research.

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