skip all navigation
skip banner links
skip primary navigation

Bureau-supported Current Students

(In alphabetical order by last name. )

NMBGMR Scholarships:

The 32 students listed below are currently being supported by the bureau, through our role as advisors or committee members, with financial resources, and/or with field logistical resources. If there are corrections or additions that should be made to this list, please contact Nelia Dunbar.

  1. Christiana Aberle

  2. Megan Badonie

    Masters — (expected) 2025, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals in Coal and Related Strata in the San Juan Basin in Northern New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Mojtabai, Chavez

    Rare Earth Elements (REE) and Critical Minerals (CM) have become of great economic interest because of the advent of new technologies and geopolitical unrest affecting the supply of resources. Extracting REE and CM from secondary and non-conventional sources such as coal and its related strata is continuously developing. Due to this, there is a push to study the relationship between coal, REE, and CM. The San Juan Basin in northern New Mexico is a structural basin that contains coal and related stratigraphic units with elevated concentrations of REE and CM. This basin is being assessed geochemically through whole-rock and coal ash analysis to determine if there are REE and CM enrichment. Samples of coalbeds, coal seams, overlying, and underlying rock units continue to be collected and characterized to determine any economic viability. Historic data have been collected and compiled into a new comprehensive coal geochemical database with the new chemistry analyses. This database will grow with additional analysis and serve as the dataset for this project. The coal volume resource potential has been calculated using estimated resource figures defined by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resource (NMBGMR) and the United States Geological Society (USGS) to determine the economic viability. REE and CM values have been applied to these calculations to estimate the resource potential in the San Juan Basin and by individual coalfields. Drillhole E-61 is part of the Bisti Coalfield and has been logged and sampled to observe elemental and REE trends in the coal, and its related strata.

  3. Debarati Banerjee

  4. Rebecca Boakye

    Masters — (expected) 2026, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Geochemistry of Critical Minerals in Mine Waste at Carlsbad Potash District in New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Hurtig

    The research focuses on characterizing and estimating critical minerals in potash mine waste and investigating future mining potential of these critical minerals. The objective of this study is to determine the economic potential value of the mine waste and assessing the potash mine waste environmental impact.

  5. Isabella Cerchiaro Sanchez

    Masters — (expected) 2025, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Critical minerals in the Laramide Hillsboro and Eureka districts and Mid-Tertiary Victorio and Tres Hermanas districts, New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Mojtabai, Chavez

    My research focuses on the search for critical minerals in New Mexico, with the primary objective of determining their presence, distribution, and concentration in the Laramide Hillsboro and Eureka districts, as well as the Mid-Tertiary Victorio and Tres Hermanas districts. This study utilizes various mineralogical characterization techniques, including petrography and X-ray diffraction, along with chemical characterization methods such as bulk rock geochemistry, X-ray fluorescence, and electron microprobe analysis.

  6. Janin Essary

    Masters — 2024, Materials Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Alumina Extraction of New Mexican Coal Clinkers and Nepheline Seyenite
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Fuierer (advisor) Burleigh, McLemore

    My research focuses on removing aluminum oxide (alumina) from San Juan Basin coal clinkers and Cornudas Mountains nepheline seyenite using the lime-sinter method.

  7. William Fawcett

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — (expected) 2025, Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Tech

    William Fawcett is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student supporting hydrogeology programs at the Bureau of Geology. A key project will be finding, digitizing, and interpreting groundwater data for the Socorro Basin. He will also be involved in other water data management projects, such as organizing data collected by the Aquifer Mapping Program.

  8. Kyle Gallant

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — 2023, Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech
    PhD — (expected) 2028, Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Laramide Orogeny, and Rio Grande Rift Deformation: Decoupling Deformation Patterns Through Geologic Mapping, Cross-Sectional Analysis, and Thermochronological Investigations
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Prush (advisor), Ault, Kelley, Leary, Naliboff

    Kyle was a Bright Star scholar in 2021 as an NMT undergraduate major, and the internship funded his undergraduate research project investigating the structure of the San Marcial Basin using relative gravity measurements. This work supported on-going StateMap efforts in the basin, which has few deep wells and extremely limited geophysical data. In addition to advancing our understanding of this enigmatic rift basin, Kyle's work will be useful for planning new water well sites in future hydrogeologic studies. You can get more information about Kyle's undergraduate project by reading this "Postcard from the Field" and by viewing a video about his experience as a Bright Star intern.

    He has stayed on at NMT and is undertaking a PhD project described below. Kyle is the first NMT student to receive Bright Star funding for graduate research. His Ph.D. project, directed by Prof. Veronica Prush in the Earth and Environmental Science Department, focuses on central New Mexico tectonics. Kyle's research centers on distinguishing the deformation patterns of two tectonic events that impacted New Mexico: the Laramide orogeny, a mountain-building event that occurred over most of the modern western US from 110-40 million years ago, and a later continental rifting event centered only in New Mexico, the Rio Grande rift, starting ~30 million years ago and continuing until today. He will map the locations of deformed rocks, collect measurements such as deformation kinematic indicators, and infer the timing of deformation using thermochronological techniques. These techniques use specific minerals that record the time at which that mineral experienced certain temperature ranges to constrain and better quantify regional deformation rates. The central questions driving the research are: when did the Fra Cristobal range in central New Mexico become a mountain range, what kind of tectonic events do the rocks in the range record, and how fast did the range exhume from depth in the crust?

  9. Jacob Gehrz

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Masters — (expected) 2025, Geology, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    40Ar/39Ar Detrital Sanidine and Basalt Geochronology Constraints for the Birth and Evolution of The Rio Grande
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Heizler (advisor), Naliboff, Waters, Zimmerer

    Jacob is currently a student in the EES Department working towards an MS degree, with research that focuses on using the 40Ar/39Ar geochronology method. He works with Matt Heizler in the Bureau’s New Mexico Geochronology Research Lab (NMGRL) studying early Rio Grande evolution, through analysis of detrital sanidine and basalts in the Taos Gorge area. In addition to his research, Jacob primarily assists the NMGRL with sample processing of numerous contracts that support laboratory operations and students. He also contriubtes to the day-to-day operation of the mass spectrometers and other technical details.

  10. Chu Huang

  11. Zohreh Kazemi Morlagh

    PhD — (expected) 2026, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Characterization of Arsenide Five-Element Veins in the Black Hawk District, Grant County, New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Mojtabai, Chavez, Iverson

    Arsenide five-element vein deposits are vein systems containing Ag-Co-Ni-Bi-As along with localized elements like U, Cu, Pb, Zn, Sb, Hg, and others. Many of these are critical minerals, being non-fuel commodities crucial for the economic and national security of the United States. In comparison to other types of mineral deposits such as orogenic gold or Cu-Mo porphyry, hydrothermal arsenide five-element vein deposits have received relatively little research attention. The goal of this study is to characterize the arsenide five-element vein within the Black Hawk district, Grant County, New Mexico and will evaluate both the mine waste and the distribution of arsenide five-element veins in the district.

  12. Charles Kershaw

  13. Jon Krupnick

    Masters — (expected) 2027, Geology, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Control of Quaternary tectonism and geomorphic regime on 10Be and 36Cl cosmogenic nuclide derived catchment-averaged erosion rates in the Fra Cristobal Range and Caballos Mountains of central New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Prush (advisor), Sion, Leonard

    I am working towards my masters in geology at New Mexico Tech while working as a field geologist for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. Catchment-averaged erosion rate samples utilize aliquots of sand, analyzed for cosmogenic nuclide concentration, to quantify the average denudation throughout a stream catchment. A sample with a high average concentration of a given nuclide would indicate slow erosion due to a long residence time of the analyzed material near earth's surface; meanwhile, a low concentration would indicate comparatively rapid erosion. For this study I will be mapping the surficial geology of two 7.5-minute quadrangles at the 1:24,000 scale in the Fra Cristobal Range that have existing, recently mapped, bedrock units. Sampling of sands in active arroyo channels, from carefully selected watersheds, will allow for the isolation of tectonic influence compared to river integration. I hope to include analysis of topographic parameters within stream catchments and aim to address how the relative effects of tectonism and river integration are modulated by time.

  14. Allison Lamery

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — (expected) 2025, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech

    Allison is interested in land rescaping and mineralogy. She assists with sample preparation for the Argon Geochronology laboratory by rock crushing, sieving, and heavy liquid mineral separation.

  15. Kevin Loeza-Vargas

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — (expected) 2026, Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech

    Kevin is an Earth Sciences major with interests in volcanology and geochronology. He assists with sample
    preparation for the Bureau’s New Mexico Geochronology Research Laboratory, completing tasks such as crushing
    rocks, sieving, acid washing, and heavy liquid separation to concentrate minerals of interest for 40Ar/ 39Ar geo and
    thermochronology. This experience is instrumental in deepening Kevin’s knowledge and passion for geochronology
    and volcanology, providing him with practical skills and insights into geological dating methods.

  16. Luke Martin

    PhD — (expected) 2027, Geology, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    R. Leary (advisor),

  17. Michael Millard

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — 2024, Mathematics, New Mexico Tech

    Michael Millard is a fourth-year mathematics and data science student supporting the Bureau's mission in the Bureau IT group. His initial task is working with Bureau research groups in defining data entry web forms and building the associated web apps. Michael also assists with routine IT support as needed. He hopes his efforts will contribute to the Bureau's mission while gaining an understanding of data engineering and industry technologies.

  18. Sarah Moses

    Masters — (expected) 2026, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Explorative evaluation of the critical minerals potential and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of selected Paleogene Porphyry Mo-W deposits and other related deposits, in southern New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Hurtig, Iverson, Waters

    My area of research is on focused the Laramide porphyry Cu (±Mo, Au) and Paleogene Mo-W deposits within southern New Mexico. These deposits can also be spatially and temporally associated with skarn deposits and polymetallic veins and hence I could also be researching other selected related deposits.
    Three pulses of ore producing magmatism of these deposits have been defined; (~78-71 Ma, Laramide pulse 1), (~59-50 Ma, Laramide pulse 2) and (~40-30 Ma, Paleogene pulse). I will be studying the Paleogene (~40-30 Ma ) pulse of ore producing magmatism which hosts Mo-W and various critical minerals, including Cu, Zn, Bi, Co, Ni, rare earth elements (REE) and Te. I also intend to identify a target or criterium for future exploration of the Paleogene Mo-W deposits of southwestern New Mexico through this research. The importance of this work will be drawing together all the existing geochronology target areas that have no or limited geochronology in order create a more coherent history of magmatism in southwestern New Mexico. One part of this thesis will be to ultimately create a holistic approach on the genesis and style of these select porphyry Cu and Mo-W deposits in relation to the defined age ranges of those three pulses of ore producing magmatism. Hence my research will ultimately help to inform and refine better exploration targets of these Paleogene Mo-W deposits and emphasize their critical minerals potential in New Mexico.

  19. Sebastian Nipah

  20. Willa Obringer

    Masters — (expected) 2026, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Hydrothermal alteration and fluid-calcite REE partitioning in the Lemitar Mountains REE-bearing carbonatite deposit, NM
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Gysi (advisor), Hurtig, Waters

    My primary research investigates REE mobilization within the carbonatites of the Lemitar Mountains, New Mexico. These carbonatites provide an optimal research opportunity to explore the mechanisms in which REE become enriched through hydrothermal processes. In addition to this, I study REE mobility and partitioning behavior by synthesizing REE-doped calcite in the laboratory. Outside of research, I enjoy hiking and bird watching.

  21. Leonardo Quirino Olvera

    PhD — (expected) 2029, Hydrology, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Measuring soil moisture, groundwater interaction with the vegetation in the riparian zone of the Middle Rio Grande
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Cadol (advisor)

    The Middle Rio Grande provides priceless ecohydrological services to its habitants in the Central Valley of New Mexico. As the carbon dioxide (CO2) continues to rise in the atmosphere, incrementing global temperature and driving changes in its hydrological cycle, it has become vital to understand the interaction of the Rio Grande and its riparian ecosystem. Can we identify these impacts in water stress? We aim to answer this using existing groundwater monitoring wells, in addition to soil moisture probes, rain gauges and remote sensing data from satellites, we wish to evaluate the constant exchange between river-groundwater-vegetation, how it works, and the overall vulnerability and resilience of this ecosystem in the recent past, and present.

  22. Kevin Padilla

    PhD — (expected) 2026, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Experimental determination of the stability of hydroxyl and chloride complexes of La and Yb in acidic to alkaline hydrothermal aqueous solutions to 450°C.
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Gysi (advisor), Hurtig, Migdisov, Waters

    This research project aims at a) generating a fundamental experimental framework at temperatures above ambient to 250°C to evaluate the controls of pH on REE hydroxyl speciation; and b) expanding the conditions for chloride species, which have been determined only to 300°C and acidic pH, to supercritical temperatures and pH above 2 to 10. The results of this project will be used to enhance the MINES thermodynamic database, which is developed at NMT, to improve current models on the hydrothermal mobilization of REE.

  23. Yerko Figueroa Penarrieta

    PhD — (expected) 2025, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Dissertation:
    Speciation of REE hydroxyl complexes in hydrothermal aqueous fluids: Experimental data and thermodynamic calculations
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Gysi (advisor),

    My interest includes the geochemistry and behavior of REE in hydrothermal fluids and the ore-forming processes. The thesis research consists of experiments and modeling of the aqueous speciation of REE hydroxyl complexes with different pH and temperature conditions. The main goal is to generate a consistent thermodynamic dataset for those aqueous species based on experimental data with a focus on ore-forming processes. Besides research, I enjoy traveling to natural parks, hiking, and music.

  24. George Pharris

    Masters — 2024, Geology, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Evaluating strain localization along the Alamogordo fault, central New Mexico, using remote sensing, field-based mapping, and geodynamic modeling
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Prush (advisor), Naliboff, Koing, Zimmerer

    My research involves investigating the history and long-term rupture behavior of the Alamogordo fault using neotectonic methods and geodynamic modeling.

  25. Valentina Robledo

  26. Lawrence Sarpong

  27. Devlon Shaver

    Masters — (expected) 2025, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Alteration and Geochemistry of Clinkers in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    McLemore (advisor), Chavez, Mojtabai

    I'm researching the clinker rocks of the San Juan basin coal fields in north western NM,. The goal of my research is to determine if the pyro metamorphosis the clinkers underwent caused REE and critical minerals to mobilize in the rocks, and to determine the values of these minerals in the clinkers themselves. Apart from school, I'm an avid gamer, reader, and competition sport shooter.

  28. Andrew Smith

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern

  29. Harriet Naakai Tetteh

    Masters — 2024, Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Dynamic Rock Testing and Implications for Structural Design Improvements to Mitigate Blast-Induced Ground Vibration
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Li (advisor), Mojtabai, McLemore, Rinehart, Razavi

    The research seeks to identify key geomechanical behaviors that result in deformation and how this is translated to superstructures in communities sensitive to drilling and blasting operations. It explores the physics with geomechanical coupling of rocks during loading-unloading cycles, deformation, damage accumulation, and ultrasonic wave propagation under cyclic conditions. The cyclic dynamic wave propagation and attenuation in selected rock types - meta-sedimentary (phyllite / muscovite schist) and igneous (granite) rocks are studied under field-representative conditions. Other qualitative tests: porosity and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis become fundamental characteristics to compare behaviors in similar rock types in different location to develop sustainable designs for retaining structures that can dissipate and absorb seismic waves during blast-induced ground vibration events.

  30. Zora Toline-Minefee

    — Deju Family Bright Star Intern
    Bachelors — (expected) 2026, Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech

    Zora is working on a New Mexico Tech and Navajo Technical University project that seeks to install water purification units on the Navajo Nation. Her specific contribution is to sample wells and help with the analysis of the water samples with the goal of identifying wells in need of filtration.

  31. Aadish Velmani

    Masters — (expected) 2025, Geochemistry, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Hydrothermal REE partitioning into fluorite: A fluid inclusion study from the Gallinas Mountains REE-bearing fluorite deposit, NM
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    Gysi (advisor), Hurtig, Coyte

    My area of research includes experimental and field study of rare earth elements enriched fluorite and its genesis through hydrothermal processes. The goal of this study is to determine different generations of REE-bearing fluorite from the Gallinas Mountains REE-fluorite deposit in New Mexico, and study the type and compositions of fluid inclusions hosted in them. The second part of my study is to synthesize hydrothermally REE-doped fluorite to study the partitioning behavior and mobility of REE between fluorite and aqueous fluids. Aside from my research, I am an avid reader, mineral collector, and musician.

  32. Damaris Washington

    Masters — (expected) 2025, Geology, New Mexico Tech
    Thesis:
    Advisors and Committee Members:
    K. Hobbs (advisor),