Matthew Fontaine Maury Fellowship Award
The Matthew Fontaine Maury Fellowship Award is made possible by an endowment that was created in 1988 by the late U.S. Navy Captain J. Maury Werth to honor his great-grandfather Matthew Fontaine Maury, a son of Virginia often referred to as the “Father of Oceanography” and the “Pathfinder of the Seas.” Captain Werth and other family members have contributed to the endowment over the years.
The Maury Award recognizes interdisciplinary achievements in marine and environmental scholarship, research, and/or policy/management efforts, and outstanding publications, thesis, or dissertation work. This year’s winner is Lindsey Kraatz.
Lindsey
Kraatz is an excellent example of an interdisciplinary marine scientist, working
at the interface of marine geology, benthic biology, and physical oceanography.
In addition, she has held multiple leadership positions at VIMS, including service
as President of the William & Mary Graduate Council, President of the VIMS
Graduate Student Association, and Vice Chair of the VIMS Honor Council.
On being awarded a prestigious VIMS GK-12 Fellowship, Lindsey developed her own study of the impact of the GK-12 program on the very high school students she was teaching. Her investigation of high schoolers’ perceptions of scientists was presented at the 2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting, featured as a news item on the website of the National Science Foundation, and has recently been flagged for an invited talk at the Fall 2011 meeting of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.
At the same time, Lindsey is also doing outstanding, highly independent estuarine field research. Her study in the York River using a rotating acoustic side-scan system entirely new to VIMS was awarded an oral presentation at the prestigious 2011 Coastal Sediments meeting, along with an article in the associated edited volume. Lindsey is preparing several additional, equally important articles as part of her ongoing graduate research at VIMS.
Congratulations, Lindsey!