Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Research

Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Research

The Cushman Foundation established its first Student Research Award in 1985 to honor the memory of Joseph A. Cushman. The award supports worthy Master's and Doctoral Student research projects dealing with the systematics, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and ecology of fossil or living foraminifera. Research on geochemistry using microfossils only as geochemical indicators is not funded; however, geochemistry that relates to any aspect of living or fossil foraminifera is fundable and should be explained.

Current students with developed research projects in these areas are encouraged to apply for support. Applicants must be Cushman Foundation members at the time of application. To apply you will need to fill out the application form and provide a description of the proposed research, why it is important, a detailed budget with justification for the expenditures and a curriculum vitae. Budgets should provide sufficient detail that a complete understanding of the financial aspects of the proposed work is clear. A letter of support from the student's faculty advisor is also required. These should be sent to by email to cushmanfoundation@gmail.com. No award will be made for more than $3000. The Board of Directors reserves the right to make no awards or to make awards that differ from the requested budget.

2024 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Doron Pinko, (Ben Gurion University, Israel) for the project entitled Study of the host-symbiont interactions in benthic foraminifera-collaboration at the forefront of climate change
• Angelique Rosa Marin, (University of South Florida, USA) for the project entitled Modern foraminifera biodiversity in coastal habitats from Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Puerto Rico
• Clement Tremblin, (Edith Cowan University, Australia) for the project entitled Living Calcarinids at the Southern Extreme of Their Biogeographical Range, Southwest Australia

2023 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Rachel Alcorn, North Carolina State University USA
• Claire Divola, University of California, Santa Barbara USA
• Gael Nidi Nkwain, Texas A&M University

2022 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Giuilia Molina, “Variability of Mediterranean Outflow Water conditions based on benthic foraminifera assemblages during the Mid Pleistocene Transition in the Gulf of Cadiz.” University of Algarve
• Maya Prabhakar, “Morphotypical variation and geochemistry of planktic foraminifera in the Late Holocene Arctic Ocean.” University of Arizona

2021 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Madelyn Cook, “California Oxygen Minimum Zone expansion during the last millennium? Investigating drivers of anomalously low bottom water O2 through comparing benthic faunal assemblages to redox-sensitive trace element-to-calcium ratios in benthic foraminifera.” University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
• Marlena Joppien, “Physiological and skeletal impacts of nanoplastic exposure on symbiont-bearing larger benthic foraminifera (LBF).” University of Bremen, Germany

2020 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Martina Caratelli, “Encrusting foraminiferal fauna from the Agua de la Mula Member (Agrio Formation, Neuquén Basin - Argentina): paleoeocological and paleoenvironmental implications.” Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Argentina
• Theresa FritzEndres, “Ground truthing the Ba/Ca productivity proxy in deeper- dwelling foraminifera in a high productivity region of the subtropical Atlantic.” Oregon State University, USA
• Shawn P Taylor, “Reconstructing the mid-late Pleistocene History of the northwest Pacific Ocean and the Kuroshio Current and Extension, Ocean Drilling Program Site 1207A.” State University of New York at Binghamton, USA.

2019 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Naima El bani Altuna, “Bottom water temperature reconstruction in the Eastern Fram Strait through the study of benthic foraminifera." Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.
• Aishah Norashikin binti Abdul A'ziz, “Reef Foraminifera as Bioindicator of Coral Reef Health in Marine Park, Pulau Tioman, South China Sea.” Universiti Malaysiz Terengganu
• Seth Sutton, "The Influence of the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum and Middle Miocene Transition on Benthic Foraminiferal Communities." East Carolina University, USA.

2018 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Kyle Amergian, “Florida's springs coast as an area of refuge for foraminifera during a time of increased ocean acidification.” University of South Florida, USA.
• Viviana María Gamboa Sojo, “Paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental change of the Barents Sea and adjacent Arctic Basin: paleontological evidences.” Firenze University, Italy

2017 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Noémie Deldicq, “Reconstructing the history of introduction of three foraminiferal species: Nonionella stella in the Oslofjord (Southeastern Norway) and Quinqueloculina carinatastriata and Ammonia tepida T6 in the Pertuis Charentais (Southwestern France).” University Lille 1, France.
• Makenna Martin, “Investigating the microbial associations of symbiont-bearing foraminifera on Florida’s reefs.” University of South Florida, USA.
• Christer Pereira, “Larger benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and evolution in Late Paleocene – Eocene succession of Meghalaya, Northeast India.” Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India.
• Filip Scheiner, “Detailed Geochemical Analysis (Mg/Ca; δ18O) of Foraminiferal Tests from the Central Paratethys at the Time of the Wieliczkian Salinity Crisis (Langhian).” Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

2016 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Nur Sakinah Abdul Razak, "Benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of pollution in mangrove area of Kilim River, Malaysia." Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.
• Charles Adams, "Foraminiferal assessment of saltmarsh recovery in Cascadia since the AD 1700 megathrust earthquake." University of NC Wilmington, USA.
• Rehemat Bhatia, "Eocene planktonic foraminiferal paleoecology interpreted through trace element and stable isotope geochemistry." University College London, UK.
• Karan Bhatt, "Diversity analysis of foraminifera along the coast of Kachchh, Gujarat-India" KSKV Kachchh University, India.
• Maria Makarova, “Application of planktonic foraminiferal stable isotopes and trace metals to reconstruct thermal history of the North Atlantic across the middle Miocene climatic optimum." Rutgers University, USA.
• Rachel Stearns, "A High-Resolution Proxy Reconstruction of Late Holocene Relative Sea Level in Rhode Island, USA." University of Rhode Island, USA.

2015 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Sean Beckwith, "Elevated Saturation Levels from Carbonate Substrates Serve as Refugia for Larger Foraminifera," University of South Florida, USA
• Jennifer Walker, "Reconstructing late Holocene sea-level in the Chesapeake Bay area using salt-marsh foraminifera," Rutgers University, USA.

2014 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Caitlin Keating-Bitonti, "Oxygen stress on benthic foraminifera: a modern case study of elemental I/Ca ratios," Stanford University, USA.
• Weimin Si, "Morphologic evolution of the Globorotalia fohsi lineage," Rutgers University, USA.
• William Phalen, "Homotrema rubrum distribution and abundance: A potential paleoceanographic proxy for past disturbance events," University of Georgia, USA.

2013 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Valerie Cruz, “Assemblage Comparisons of Living Benthic Foraminifera within Bathyal Oiled and Un-oiled Sites of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico,” University of Southern Mississippi, USA.
• Steve Doo, “Potential for poleward range extension in tropical symbiont-bearing large benthic foraminifera: Assessing resiliency of temperate and tropical foraminifera to climate-driven ocean change,” University of Sydney, Australia.

2008 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Ellen Brouillette, M.Sc. student, University of Georgia, USA - "An Experimental Approach to Understanding the Impacts of Heavy Metal Pollutants on Benthic Foraminifera"
• Olivia Gibb, M.Sc. student, Dalhousie University, Canada - "Paleoceanographic conditions in the Amundsen Gulf and Viscount Melville Sound, Northwest Passage"

2007 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Annette Bolton, Ph.D. student, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Geography, Environment & Earth Sciences, NZ - "Coupled δ18O- Mg/Ca analysis of individual Globigerinoides ruber (white) and Neogloboquadrina incompta: paleo-environmental implications"
• Serena Dameron, M.S. student, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Geosciences, USA - "Benthic foraminiferal changes associated with isotopic changes at the Mid-Maastrictian event and end of the Early Eocene climatic optimum, Shatsky Rise, North Pacific"
• Laura Wegener Parfrey, Ph.D. student, University of Massachusetts, Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, USA - "Genomic processing and sequence evolution in foraminifera"

2006 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Katherine Jordan, PhD. student, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, USA - "Assessing the effects of calcite saturation state on metal uptake and post-depositional dissolution in benthic foraminiferal calcite"
• Heidi Souder, PhD. student, College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, USA - "Shell abnormalities in Archaias angulatus (Foraminifera) from the Florida Keys: the possible affects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide?"

2005 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Jennifer L. Frail-Gauthier, Msc. student, Centre for Environmental and Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, Canada - “Studies of the biology and pollution tolerances of marsh foraminifera from a cold, temperate marsh in Nova Scotia, Canada”
• Andrea D. Hawkes, PhD. student, Earth & Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA - “Constraining Past Mega-Thrust Earthquake-induced Vertical Land Movement in the Pacific Northwest”

2004 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Scott Fay - "Ecological Zonation of Endosymbionts in Tropical Reef-Dwelling Foraminifera"
• Alicia Kahn - "Morphological Inventory of Indian Ocean Calcareous Nannoplankton"

2003 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Anna Sabbatini - "Diversity of Polar Monothalamous Foraminifera - Morphological and Molecular Approach"
• Irene J. Abbene - "Distribution of Foraminifera, Sources of Organic Matter, and Sedimentation Rates in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina"
• Jaime Escobar - " Thecamoebians as Environmental and Paleoenvironmental Indicators: Evidence from Modern Thecamoebian Distributions in Florida Lakes"

2002 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• Deniz Altin - "Using Novel Mitochondrial Genetic Markers for Phylogeny Reconstruction in Foraminifera"
• Tessa M. Hill - "Foraminifera of Methane Rich Environments: Species Assemblages, Geochemistry, and Implications of the Fossil Record"

2001 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Research

• John Hernandez - "Miocene (8-12 Ma) Sea-Level Changes at Bethany Beach, DE"
• David Vance - "Benthic Foraminifera as Indicators of Environmental Change in the Outer Banks-Albemarle Sound System, North Carolina"