Scholarships
Bolyard Family Scholarship
This scholarship was established by Dudley and Marion Bolyard, longtime supporters of the RMAG Foundation and the geologic community. Dudley passed away in 2022 and is greatly missed. He served in major leadership positions with the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the RMAG Foundation. He is remembered for his passionate success in all his geologic endeavors and unbridled enthusiasm for geologic events. Marion was a longtime leader in the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists Auxiliary, an organization formerly providing support for technical conferences, conventions, and various social events for the geologic community.
The 2026 Bolyard Family Scholarship was jointly awarded to John Allard and Paige McDowell:
John Allard, PhD Candidate, University of Colorado
John intends to use new apatite (U-Th)/He ages from range-perpendicular transects in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, to reveal spatial gradients that record differential Cenozoic uplift and incision. These cooling ages will constrain when the batholith reached shallow levels and test models of westward tilting and landscape development. The Sierra Nevada Batholith, a Jurassic–Cretaceous continental arc root provides an ideal setting to test models of post-magmatic topographic evolution. In addition, John will expand the application of (U-Th)/He dating to oxidized ore deposits. The Auriferous Gravels (gravels that overlay the Mesozoic batholith) preserve the geomorphic and mineralization history. He will apply goethite (U-Th)/He chronology to date iron oxide formation and constrain weathering timing and minimum gravel deposition ages.
John’s work is under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Flowers.
Paige McDowell, M.S. Student, University of Colorado
Paige is studying the use of laser ablation (U-Th)/He (or LA-He) to avoid He retentivity complication observed in conventional (U-Th)/He analyses. (U/Th)/He analyses are used to date zircon and apatite grains, constraining their cooling ages. This has wide application in petrology and sedimentology. With older minerals, the crystal lattice accumulates more radiation damage, impacting He diffusivity and retentivity. This can result in artificially high ages and incorrect interpretations. Preliminary data employing LA-He techniques demonstrates total He degassing without U and Th loss.
Paige’s work is under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Flowers.
Recent winners of the Bolyard Family Scholarship:
2025 Nick R. Borders, University of Idaho
2024 Natali Kragh, Montana State University
2023 Shayla Triantafillou, Colorado State University