Scholarships

RMAG Foundation Scholarship

The Trustees of the RMAG Foundation may elect to award this scholarship to an applicant demonstrating outstanding research abilities and achievement. There are no restrictions on school affiliation or field of study as long as it is geoscience oriented. The Trustees may not elect to award the Scholarship every year.

The 2025 RMAG Foundation Scholarship was awarded to:

Jessica Hiatt, PhD Candidate, Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

Jessie’s research will identify and quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics of underground coal fires in western Colorado through an integrated approach combining multi-temporal spaceborne and airborne remote sensing (spaceborne and airborne), ground-based monitoring, and geospatial data fusion methods.  

These techniques will detect surface deformation and changes in soil and vegetation characteristics — key indicators of underground coal fires. A subsurface stratigraphic model will be built from borehole logs, and a 3D thermal model will be developed by integrating borehole temperature data, drone thermal imaging, and ground-based surface temperature mapping. Geospatial modeling and statistical analysis will link surface observations with subsurface data, to quantify the correlation of fire and indicator dynamics, delineate high-risk zones, and assess impacts on infrastructure and the environment. This study will contribute to the scientific understanding of coal fire while providing actionable insights for policymakers and environmental agencies to guide risk mitigation and resource allocation.  

Jessie’s work is under the direction of Dr. Wendy Zhou and Dr. Lesli Wood

Jessie has a M.S. in GIS and Geoinformatics and a B.S. in Geological Engineering with a minor in Public Affairs from Colorado School of Mines.

Recent winners of the RMAG Foundation Scholarship:

2024 Bruno Belotti, University of Idaho

2023 Molly McCreary, University of Utah