Montgomery Prize winners announced at El Día and GeoDaze 2024

The winner of the $2,500 Montgomery Prize for outstanding oral presentation in the field of hydrology at the 2024 El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera: Future Has Horizons is Lin Ji. Her presentation is titled “Machine Learning Analysis of Martian Valley Networks: Paleoclimatic Implications.” Montgomery & Associates professionals Alyssa Kirk, groundwater hydrologist, and Victoria Hermosilla, P.G., hydrogeologist, presented the award to Ji.

Ji is a doctoral student in hydrology at University of Arizona and holds an M.S. in physical geography from Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an, China.

El Día is an annual event held during EarthWeek and organized by students from the UArizona Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.

This year’s recipient of the $2,500 Montgomery Prize at UArizona’s Department of Geosciences annual GeoDaze Symposium is Isaiah Spring. His winning abstract is titled “Trace Element Analyses of Plagioclase from Troctolite 76535 and Implications for Mg-suite Petrogen.” Isaiah is a Ph.D. candidate in the UArizona Geosciences department and is pursuing a specialty in geochemistry. He received his B.S. in geology from Brigham Young University.

GeoDaze provides graduate and undergraduate students with the opportunity to present their latest research to the community and receive feedback from professionals in geosciences and related fields, government, and academia.

M&A, a long-time sponsor of El Día and GeoDaze, is proud to recognize Lin and Isaiah for their important contributions.

For more information about M&A—now in our 40^th year—or our efforts to give back to our communities, please visit our website.

Alyssa Kirk, groundwater hydrologist at M&A, presents Lin Ji with the Montgomery Prize

Alyssa Kirk, groundwater hydrologist, and Victoria Hermosilla, P.G., hydrogeologist, represent M&A at El Día del Agua 2024.

Montgomery Prize winner Isaiah Spring, center, with this year’s GeoDaze co-chairs Jim Bradford and Anca Barla.