UMR students were honored during the 50th annual Association of Missouri Geologists meeting held recently in Rolla, Mo.

Daniel Lasco of Kansas City, Mo., a graduate student in geology and geophysics, received the O.R. Grawe Award, which is presented annually to an outstanding junior or senior undergraduate geology major in Missouri by AMG. Lasco was a senior at the time of the judging.

"Dan is able to piece new information and observations together and come up with novel insights into old problems," says Dr. John P. Hogan, associate professor of geology and geophysics in the Geological Sciences and Engineering department at UMR.

James Mataragio of Dar Es Salaam, Republic of Tanzania, Africa, a Ph.D. student in geology and geophysics, received the Clayton H. Johnson Best Paper award, which is presented annually to the graduate student who presents the best paper in the geology-geophysics section. This award is judged by the Missouri Academy of Sciences.

His paper, "Terrane Accretion in Coastal Maine: Insights from the Osotopic Characterization of Granite Sources," focuses on the construction of the Earth’s crust on the eastern coast of Maine during the Paleozoic period.

"It is a real pleasure to work with such a promising young scientist, and I am pleased the AMG has chosen to recognize his accomplishment," says Hogan.