Awards and Honors

Faculty & Staff Honors and Awards

Faculty & Staff Annual Service Awards

Each year, Stony Brook University honors the faculty and staff for their years of dedication to the University. Several SoMAS faculty and staff have received such awards.

Faculty Honor Wall

The 2013 Convocation ceremonies included the dedication of the Faculty Honor Wall, located in the Melville Library, intended to acknowledge the contributions of our faculty, the most distinguished in the SUNY system and one of the most distinguished in the world.

The SoMAS faculty that are honored on the Faculty Honor Wall are listed below.

Robert D. Cess Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Seminar Speakers

2004 Dennis Hartmann
2005 David Randall
2006 Warren Washington
2007 Kerry Emanuel
2008 V Ramanathan
2009 Lance Bosart
2010 James Kasting
2011 Jeffrey Kiehl
2012 Yuk Yung
2013 John M. Wallace
2014 Peter J. Webster
2015 Gerald North
2016 Howie Bluestein
2017 Isaac Held
2018 Ben P. Kirtman
2019 Richard Rotunno

Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)

1996 Minghua Zhang, SoMAS
1998 John Mak, SoMAS
2009 Daniel Knopf, SoMAS
2013 Heather Lynch, Ecology & Evolution / SoMAS
2013 Jie Yu, Civil Engineering / SoMAS
2017 Hyemi Kim, SoMAS
2017 Lesley Thorne, SoMAS
2021 Sara Hamideh, SoMAS

Pew Fellowships

2014 Demian Chapman, SoMAS
2000 Ellen Pikitch, SoMAS
1991 Carl Safina, SoMAS

Teaching Awards

Outstanding Lecturers

2014 Kurt Bretsch, SoMAS

Chancellor’s Awards

1989 Jeri Schoof, SoMAS, Excellence in Professional Service
1991 Clifford Jones, SoMAS, Excellence in Professional Service
2016 Ginny Clancy, SoMAS, Excellence in Professional Service
2018 Mark Wiggins, SoMAS, Excellence in Professional Service
2018 Sharon Pochron, SoMAS, Excellence in Teaching
2019 Maria Brown, SoMAS, Excellence in Adjunct Teaching
2021 Mark Lang, SoMAS, Excellence in Professional Service

President’s Award

Excellence in Classified Service

2001 Joann Cosgrove, Marine Sciences Research Center / SoMAS

MSRC Alumni Association Faculty Staff Award

MSRC Alumni Association Faculty Staff Award is presented to a faculty or staff member in the center.

1988 Cliff Jones
1989 Chuck Nittrouer
1990 Henry J. Bokuniewicz
1991 Bob Cerrato

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually to individuals and organizations that make outstanding contributions in the fields of chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. They were established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel. Another prize, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, was established in 1968 by the Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, for contributors to the field of economics.

2007 in Peace Robert Cess*, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2007 in Peace Edmund Chang*, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2007 in Peace Marvin Geller*, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2007 in Peace Minghua Zhang*, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

* Four faculty members at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences have been recognized for their contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with former Vice President Al Gore for efforts to control global warming.

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the betterment of humanity. The Association was created on September 20, 1848, in Pennsylvania. According to the first constitution, the goal of the society was to promote scientific dialogue to allow for greater scientific collaboration. It is the world’s largest general scientific society. Election as a Fellow of AAAS is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. Fellows are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications.

1996 James Ammerman, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2000 Jeff Levinton, Ecology & Evolution / School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2013 Dianna Padilla, Ecology & Evolution / School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2015 David Conover, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2015 Ellen Pikitch, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2016 Cindy Lee, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2019 Minghua Zhang, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography

The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography Fellows program was initiated in 2015 to honor ASLO members who have advanced the aquatic sciences via their exceptional contributions to the benefit of the society and its publications, meetings, and other activities. ASLO, the premier aquatic sciences society, is extremely pleased to announce the inaugural class of Fellows. The commitment and service of these individuals to ASLO have enabled the society to advance the sciences of limnology and oceanography.

2015 Inagural Fellows Cindy Lee & Gordon Taylor

2016 Fellow Mary Scranton

American Fisheries Society (AFS)

Oscar E. Sette Award – Outstanding Marine Fishery Biologist
2015 – David Conover
2016 – Ellen Pikitch

Award for Excellence in Public Outreach
2014 – Ellen Pikitch

SUNY Distinguished Professors

Created by the State University of New York Board of Trustees as a prestigious system-level distinction, the title of Distinguished Professor is conferred upon faculty who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within the individual’s chosen field through significant contributions to the research and scholarship, or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine and performing arts. Appointment constitutes a promotion to the State University’s highest academic rank, and it is conferred solely by the State University Board of Trustees.

1992 Robert Cess, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
1998 Robert Aller, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2003 Cindy Lee, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2004 Jeffrey Levinton, Ecology and Evolution / SoMAS
2005 Nicholas Fisher, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2019 Minghua Zhang, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

Distinguished Service Professors

1991 J. R. Schubel, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus Marine Sciences Research Center
1991 Robert D. Cess, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
2004 Malcolm Bowman, Distinguished Service Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
2009 Henry Bokuniewicz, Distinguished Service Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

MSRC Associates Distinguished Teaching Award

MSRC Associates Distinguished Teaching Award is presented to an instructor by graduate students of the Center.

1977 J. L. McHugh
1979 Henry J. Bokuniewicz
1980 Henry J. Bokuniewicz
1981 William T. Peterson
1982 Akira Okubo
1983 Mary Scranton

Student Honors and Awards

August Guerrera Award

For the encouragement of the study of groundwater hydrology and the chemistry of Long Island.

1998 Karin Olsen
1999 Francis “Chip” Rossi
2000 Daniel O’Rourke
2001 Mark Renotti
2002 John Rapaglia
2003 Yoko Tsukamoto
2004 Gabriella Circosta
2005 Kevin Hickey
2006 Magdalena M. Pietrzak
2007 Xuan Xu
2008 Shelby Lipka
2009 Ruth Coffey
2010 John Wallance Daniel
2011 Omkar Aphale
2012 Josephine Durand
2013 Amy Pritt
2014 Christine Gurdon
2015 Joseph Tamborski

Nathan L. Halpern Award

For the study of coastal processes on Long Island.

2000 Brian Batten
2001 Shelley Johnston
2002 Elissa McLaughlin
2003 Krista Collier
2004 Frank Buonaiuto
2005 Kate Seaver
2006 Michael Slattery
2007 Staci Birnbaum
2008 Daniel Duval
2009 Morgan Gelinas
2010 Michael White
2011 Megan Bednarz
2012 Rob Longiaru
2013 Kathleen Fallon
2014 Hanlu Huang
2015 Patrick Lanigan
2016 Justin Lashley
2017 Andrew Seaman

Jerry R. Schubel Fellowship

Committed to translating research into information that enriches public understanding of marine and atmospheric science. In recognition of Their Outstanding Academic Record and in Support of Their Planned Activities in Public Outreach and/or Use of Science to Inform Public Policy.

2006 Lynn Abramson & Christine O'Connell
2007 Tara Duffy & Marianne McNamara
2008 Owen Doherty & Charles Wall
2009 Santiago Salinas
2014 Sarah Bailey, Konstantine Rountos, Natasha Gownaris, & Mark Bond
2015 Christine Gurdon & Ryan Wallace
2016 Claudia Hinrichs, Rebecca Kulp, & Sam Urmy
2017 Sam Gurr & Stephanie K. Adamczak
2018 John Bohorquez, Justin Bopp, Leah Reidenbach, Caroline Schwaner, & Stephen Tomasetti
2019 Lisa Crawford, Irvin Huang, Alyson Lowell, Teresa Schwemmer, Oliver Shipley, & Alyssa Stansfield
2020 Noah Strycker, Adelle Molina, Christopher Brianik, Kimberly Lato & Xiaoning Wu
2021 Naomi Miller & Farinaz Motlagh

The Nuria Protopopescu Memorial Teaching Award

Presented to a SoMAS Graduate Student in recognition of excellence in teaching, innovation in instruction, and exceptional dedication to their students.

2013 Marianne McNamara
2014 Konstantine Rountos
2015 Irvin Huang
2016 Rebecca Kulp
2017 Sabrina Geraci-Yee
2018 Ryan Wallace
2019 Sara Cernadas-Martin
2020 Samantha Nyer
2021 Madison Muehl

Pikitch Family Endowed Student Research Award

2014 Natasha Gownaris
2015 Mark Bond
2016 Cecilia O'Leary
2017 Abigail Tyrell
2018 Lis Henderson
2019 John Bohorquez
2020 Evan Ingram
2021 Adelle Molina

Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship Fund

For academic performance, research accomplishments, participation in student activities and service to the University and community.

2003 Kathryn Seaver
2004 Daniel Iannotti
2005 Douglas Barnum
2006 Amber Stubler
2007 Katherin Rojowsky
2008 Raema Obbie
2009 Brandi Lyn Peters
2010 Deborah Aller
2011 Eda Charmane Gimenez
2012 Danny Caputti
2013 Michael Colbert
2014 Breanna Zavadoff
2015 Taylor Scott Mandelbaum
2016 Nicole Casamassina
2017 Matthew McDermott
2018 Katherine McKeown
2019 Skyler Graap & Anna Smith
2020 Austin Reed
2021 Julia Tetrault

Professor Xiangding Wu Memorial Award

For academic achievements in the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres Graduate Program,with particular emphasis on performance in the departmental exam and core courses.

1997-1998 David Myers
1998-1999 Giovanni Muscari
1999-2000 Ling Wang
2000-2001 Lijuan Sun
2001-2002 Jingbo Wu
2002-2003 Joseph Olson
2003-2004 Yanluan Lin
2004-2005 David Novak
2006-2007 Kelly Lombardo
2010-2011 Param Mukherjee
2011-2012 Tingyin Xiao
2012-2013 Diego Adolfo Alfaro Berea
2013-2014 Xin Zhou
2014-2015 Cheng Zheng
2018-2019 Alyssa Stansfield

Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Fund Annual Award Winners

For Their Excellence and Continued Support of Recycling in New York State.

1998 Margaret McArdle
1999 Michael Ahrens
2000 Aaron Rust
2001 Ann Zulkosky
2002 Teresa Mathews
2003 Mark J. Benotti
2004 Paula S. Rose
2005 Christine O'Connell
2006 Owen Doherty
2007 Anne Cooper Ellefson
2008 Brooke Rodgers
2009 John C. Gondek
2010 Cassandra Bauer
2011 Konstantine Rountos
2012 Krista Green
2013 Natasha Gownaris
2014 Kaitlin Willig
2015 Ryan Wallace
2016 Irvin Huang
2017 Lori Clark
2018 Karin Schweitzer
2019 John Bohorquez
2020 Lisa Crawford & Stephen Tomasetti

Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Fund Undergraduate Award Winners

For Their Excellence and Continued Support of Recycling in New York State.

2008 Amandeep Parhar
2009 John Botos
2010 Deborah Aller
2011 Eda Charmaine Gimenez
2012 Rasheed Lucas
2013 Marie Baietto
2014 Moshan Chen
2015 Emily Markowitz
2016 Michelle Barbosa & Alfredo Esposito
2017 Julia Petersen & Maria Grima
2018 Claire Garfield & Courtney Stuart
2019 Laura Osa & Kyle Walter
2020 Sabrina Holsborg, Noor Hamden, & Kenny Rothwell

Timothy Magnussen Memorial Scholarship

2013 Michael Colbert & Daniel Caputi
2014 Charles Bergin & Michael Colbert
2015 Kylie Merrow & Charles Bergin
2016 Joshua Feldman & Kylie Merrow
2017 Magdalena Wrobel & Joshua Feldman
2018 Justin Bettenhauser & Magdalena Wrobel
2019 Justin Bettenhauser, Bridget Hyland & Magdalena Wrobel
2020 Timothy Skula & Grace Ahn
2021 Grace Ahn & Miles Litzmann

Best Thesis Awards

2012

Elizabeth Suter, MS
Florian Koch, PhD

2013

Martha Marie Divver, MS
Owen Doherty, PhD

2014

Alex Malvezzi, MS
Peter Alpert, PhD

2015

Lindsay Roupe, MS
Jonathan Slade, PhD

2016

Adham Younes, MS
Natasha Gownaris, PhD

2017

Jennifer Jankowiak, MS
Alison Flanagan, PhD

2018

Joseph Charnawskas, MS
Cheng-Shiuan Lee, PhD

2019

Raymond Sukhdeo, MS
Adam Herrington, PhD

Steinberg-Squires Award

The Steinberg-Squires Award is presented to the best thesis and dissertation produced in an academic year. Criteria for selection of the award winner included originality and importance of the research, clarity of writing, and the degree of independence shown by the student in pursuing research. The award was established through a donation made to the Stony Brook Foundation by Donald F. Squires, New York Sea Grant Institute Director, and his wife, Marian Steinberg.

1978-79 David J. Hirschberg , MS
1979-80 V. Monica Bricelj, MS
1980-81 Geraldine M. Kelpin, MS
1982-83 Jonathan Kramer, MS
1983-84 Monica Bricelj, PhD & David Ullman, MS
1984-85 Jeng Chang

Stony Brook Alumni Association Dean’s Choice Award

The Dean’s Choice Awards are conveyed to the undergraduate students maintaining the highest grade point averages in the four undergraduate degree programs offered at SoMAS.

2011
Nicholas Michael Leonardo, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Karen Yee, Environmental Studies
John Harold Torelli, Marine Sciences
Michelle Ann Ziegler, Marine Vertebrate Biology

2012
Alyssa Anne Mathews, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Deanna Lynn Lally, Environmental Studies
Madalyn Rae Murray & Danica Denise Warns, Marine Sciences
Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Marine Vertebrate Biology

2013
Warren Porter, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Marouh Hussein & Alexandra Santiago, Environmental Studies
Kaitlyn Smith, Marine Sciences
Brian Gallagher, Marine Vertebrate Biology

2014
Hyung-Bo Kim, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Anne Liberti & Dylan Smith, Environmental Studies
Tyler Abruzzo, Marine Sciences
Anne Hollembeak, Marine Vertebrate Biology

2015
Michael Colbert, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Tesia Moore, Environmental Studies
Mykaela Copeland, Marine Sciences
George Czeck, Marine Vertebrate Biology

2016
Charles Bergin, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Kristin Welch, Environmental Studies
Julia Donaton, Marine Sciences
Regina Valentino, Marine Vertebrate Biology
Elizabeth Montello, Ecosystems and Human Impact
Shunna Ide, Environmental Humanities
Nicholas Fusco, Sustainability Studies

2017
Christopher Stubenrauch, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Savannah Rose, Environmental Studies
Michelle Barbosa, Marine Vertebrate Biology
Sarah Matero, Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning
Andrea Baatz, Environmental Humanities

2018
Matthew McDermott, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Maria Grima, Environmental Studies
Peter Larios, Marine Sciences
Ashley Landrein, Sustainability Studies

2019
Katherine McKeown, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Stephanie Sforza, Environmental Studies
Courtney Jansen, Marine Sciences
Lindsey Hughes, Sustainability Studies

2020
Benjamin Bacon, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Samantha Dequarto, Environmental Studies
Jade Killian, Environmental Studies
Delphine Mossman, Marine Vertebrate Biology
Kevin Peterson, Sustainability Studies
Taylor Larson, Environmental Humanities

2021
Austin Reed, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Laura Osa, Sustainability Studies
Paul Buschman, Coastal Environmental Studies
Megan Gallagher, Environmental Humanities
Alyssa Diodato, Ecosystems and Human Impact
Matthew Coletta, Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning
Laura Roesch, Environmental Studies
Jeffrey Kraemer, Marine Sciences
Brendan Hallinan, Marine Sciences
Claire Vervack, Marine Vertebrate Biology

Jessie Smith Noyes Fellowship

The Noyes Fellowship program was established in 1975 with a grant from the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation to MSRC and the Stony Brook Foundation to support outstanding graduate students working on significant environmental research in the coastal zone.

1975-76 Jeffrey A. Leslie
1976-77 Dean Scott Becker, Gregory T. Green and Monteith G. Heaton
1977-78 David Hirschberg, Dominick Ninivaggi, and Wayne F. Penello
1978-79 Monica Bricelj, Gerard M. Capriulo, and Kevin D. Wyman
1979-80 Helene R. Laufer, David J. Sarokin and Thomas C. Wilson, Jr.
1980-81 John Michael Ellsworth and Jonathan Gary Kramer
1981-82 Lisa Campbell, Brian Duncan, and Jennifer Jesty
1982-83 Glynis Nau- Ritter and George McManus
1983-84 Hans Dam Guerreiro and James Mitchell
1984-85 Cynthia Decker and Christina Barnes

SoMAS Undergraduate Environmental Essay Award

This award recognized and rewards Sustainability Studies and SoMAS undergraduate students who demonstrate outstanding research, originality, and writing in a scholarly paper. The intent of this award is to foster outstanding undergraduate writing and research skills in sustainability and environmental fields.

2020
First Prize: Mei-Lynn Stout
Second Prize: Laura Osa
Third Prize: Kathryn Muste

The SoMAS award winners are displayed on plaques in the Endeavour Hall lobby but are displayed virtually below. Click on the appropriate tab to view the plaque for the specific award.