Two grad students to conduct research at DOE national labs

Two graduate students at Colorado School of Mines have received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct a portion of their thesis research at a national laboratory. 

Erin Bertelsen and Anna Ryken were among 70 students at 52 universities nationwide selected for the Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program this year, DOE announced April 12. 

Bertelsen, a PhD candidate in applied chemistry, will work at Argonne National Laboratory, where she will be conducting extended X-ray absorption fine structure experiments to study the local coordination environment of the extractant tetra-n-octyl diglycolamide in the presence of lanthanides when confined in supported liquid membranes and ordered mesoporous carbon nanoparticles. Her advisor is Associate Professor Jenifer Shafer. 

Ryken, a PhD candidate in hydrology, will conduct her research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she will focus on evapotranspiration (ET) and plant water use through a combination of observations and high-resolution hydrologic modeling of mountain regions in order to scale ET and plant water use processes to continental hydrologic models. Her advisor is Rowlinson Professor of Hydrology Reed Maxwell. 

The DOE program provides funding for PhD candidates to spend three to 12 months at a DOE national laboratory conducting graduate thesis research in a priority research area in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. The goal is to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission.

CONTACT
Emilie Rusch, Public Information Specialist, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3361 | erusch@mines.edu
Mark Ramirez, Managing Editor, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3088 | ramirez@mines.edu

About Mines
Colorado School of Mines is a public R1 research university focused on applied science and engineering, producing the talent, knowledge and innovations to serve industry and benefit society – all to create a more prosperous future.