Carson Graduate Fellowship

The Lt. Col. Kenneth Rondo Carson and Virginia Bryan Carson Graduate Fellowship is an endowment established by the estate of Virginia B. Carson, honoring her husband, a former member of the "Flying Tigers," a former member of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff Strategic Air Command, retired master navigator and enthusiast of space exploration. Colonel Carson greatly admired the professionalism and accomplishments of NASA's space program. The Carson Fellowship is awarded to students pursuing degrees in the Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, selected on the basis of academic achievement and the promise of further scholarly endeavor.

YearStudentRESEARCH INTERESTS
2025/2026Hall, KylieExoplanets
2025/2026Smith, KaylaAstrobiology, Exoplanets, Planetary Atmospheres
2024/2025No award 
2023/2024No award 
2022/2023Cantillo, DavidSmall bodies, space situational awareness
2021/2022Daniel, MichaelPlanetary surfaces
2020/2021Myers, SamSmall bodies
2019/2020Walters, JadaSolar and heliospheric research 
2018/2019Palmer, MaureenAtmosphere of Titan
2017/2018Sharkey, BenjaminSmall bodies of the Solar System
2016/2017Bonnefoy, LéaPlanetary surfaces
2015/2016Hendler, NathanialEvolution of Protoplanetary Dust-Disk Sizes
2014/2015Lo, DanielCarbon Photochemistry and Escape in the Present-Day Martian Atmosphere
2013/2014Komacek, ThaddeusThe Atmospheric Circulation and Evolution of Close-In Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets
2012/2013Bramson, AliRadar Analysis and Theoretical Modeling of the Presence and Preservation of Ice on Mars
2011/2012Muro, GabrielPlanetary formation
2010/2011Dykhuis, MelissaAsteroid Family Dynamics in the Inner Main Belt
2009/2010Maleszewski, ChesterPlanetary astronomy; KBOs and asteroids
2008/2009Schrader, DevinThe Formation and Alteration of the Renazzo-like Carbonaceous Chondrites
2007/2008Schrader, DevinThe Formation and Alteration of the Renazzo-like Carbonaceous Chondrites