KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Five University of Kansas students have received outstanding achievement awards from the Kansas Geological Survey, based on KU’s west campus.

William Harrison, director, presented cash awards and certificates in May to Bryan A. Banz, a doctoral student from Buhler; David Benjamin Huber, a spring 2009 graduate and master’s degree student from Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Joseph Dane Kearns, a senior from Valley Falls; Arlo Michael McKee, a master’s degree student from Lincoln, Neb.; and Chong Zeng, a doctoral student from Wuhan, China.

The geological survey awarded the first Jack Dangermond ESRI Geospatial Technologies Student Award. The award was established this year by Dangermond, president of the Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., to recognize student accomplishments in the application of geospatial technologies.

The Kansas Geological Survey studies and provides information on the state’s geologic resources and hazards, particularly ground water, oil, natural gas and other minerals. It employs approximately 40 students.

The funds for these awards are managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit foundation serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

The award winners are listed below by hometown.

JEFFERSON COUNTY
From Valley Falls 66088
Joseph Dane Kearns, senior in geography, is the recipient of the first Jack Dangermond ESRI Geospatial Technologies Student Award. Kearns is a technical research assistant in the geological survey’s Exploration Services Section and has assisted with several Geographic Information Systems and Global Positioning System projects. In his work, Kearns has also created the maps and digital routes used during the geological survey’s annual water-level measurement campaign in western Kansas. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Kearns and a Valley Falls High School graduate.

RENO COUNTY
From Buhler 67522
Bryan A. Banz, doctoral student in computer science, received the Norman Plummer Outstanding Student Award. As a graduate research assistant in the geological survey’s Geohydrology Section, Banz has helped develop a Web-based educational tool that simulates underground rock layers, energy resources and water to help students prepare for jobs in the petroleum industry and other geologic fields. Norman Plummer was a geological survey employee from 1936 to 1969. Banz earned a bachelor’s degree from Tabor College in Hillsboro.

MISSOURI
From Lee’s Summit 64063
David Benjamin Huber, spring 2009 graduate in atmospheric sciences, who is pursuing a master’s degree atmospheric sciences and in geography at KU, received the Frank C. Foley Groundwater Student Travel Award. As a research support specialist in the geological survey’s Geohydrology Section, Huber helped create an electronic database of records for water wells drilled in the Ogallala aquifer region of western Kansas. The award, named for the geological survey’s director from 1954 to 1970, will provide travel funds for Huber to attend the Midwest Groundwater Conference in October in St. Louis, where he will present the results of his work. Huber earned an associate of applied science degree from Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Mo. He is the son of Richard and Mary Huber and a Lee’s Summit Senior High School graduate.

NEBRASKA
From Lincoln 68502
Arlo Michael McKee, master’s degree student in anthropology, received the Lee C. and Darcy Gerhard Field Research Student Award. A graduate research assistant in the geological survey’s Stratigraphic Research Section, McKee has been involved with a geophysical survey at an Early Paleoindian site near Kanorado in northwestern Kansas. His work includes using ground-penetrating radar to map buried landscapes containing archaeological materials that are about 13,000 years old. The award is named after the geological survey’s director from 1987 to 1999 and his wife. McKee received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

CHINA
From Wuhan
Chong Zeng, doctoral student in geology, received the William W. Hambleton Student Research Award. Zeng is a graduate research assistant in the geological survey’s Exploration Services section, where he studies seismic waves, or waves of energy that travel through the Earth following events such as earthquakes or explosions. He has developed a near-surface seismic modeling package used to identify unusual geologic features near the Earth’s surface. William W. Hambleton was the geological survey’s director from 1970 to 1986.