Scholarships

Veterans’ Memorial Scholarship For Any Veteran or Current Member of Any Branch of the United States Armed Forces

The Veterans’ Memorials Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student at any accredited college or university who is a veteran or who is currently serving in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.  It seeks to reward excellence in geologic achievement and has few restrictions.  The Foundation welcomes applications in all earth science-related sub-disciplines, many of which are listed on the application page. This scholarship was created in memory of geologists who served in the Armed Forces and have sacrificed time and life to preserve freedom in our country.  It has been supported primarily by World War II veterans who are member of RMAG and their families.

The 2026 Veterans Memorial Scholarship was awarded to:

Joseph Moll, M.S., Geology, Montana State University

Joseph’s study investigates the Middle Cambrian Flathead Sandstone to better understand its rare earth element enrichment and sedimentary history. Building on prior work that identified monazite hosted light rare earth elements in basal conglomerates, Joseph focuses on characterizing these enrichments in southwest Montana and evaluating their economic potential. He aims to address broader geologic questions by reconstructing sediment provenance, paleogeography, and transport pathways in northwest Laurentia during the transition from the Precambrian to early Paleozoic.

To achieve these goals, Joseph integrates field and laboratory methods, including portable X ray fluorescence for in situ geochemical analysis, laser ablation techniques for trace element and isotopic measurements in zircon and monazite, and scanning electron microscopy for detailed heavy mineral characterization. By combining new and existing samples across the study area, Joseph will develop a dataset that links geochemistry, geochronology, and mineralogy to regional sediment sources and depositional processes, providing new insight into both resource potential and early Paleozoic basin evolution.

Joseph’s work is under the direction of Dr. Devon Orme.

Recent winners of the Veterans Memorial Scholarship:

2025 Andrew Oordt, University of Oklahoma

2024 Elisa McGhee, Colorado State University

2023 Patricia Standring, University of Texas at Austin

2022 Wade Aubin, University of Texas at Austin