Two people outside smiling.

Sussanah Herz, Ph.D. '29

Harriet Benson Fellowship Award

The Harriet Benson Fellowship Award recognizes exceptional scholarship and research accomplishments by graduate students in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. This prestigious award honors a continuing graduate student in their advanced years of study and celebrates their contributions to the field.

This award is made possible by the generous endowment gift from Dr. Harriet Benson, a retired chemist with a long history of supporting Stanford and its students, particularly the women’s basketball team. Dr. Benson’s interest in Earth sciences has led her to audit several EPS courses over the past few years. Her gift is intended to further the careers of talented young scientists.

2026 Awardees

Susannah Herz, Ph.D. '29
Emily Nigro, Ph.D. '29

2025 Awardees

Emily Ellefson, Ph.D. '26
Lucy Webb,  Ph.D. '27

Previous Awardees

Dr. Lijing Wang, Award 2019-2020 (University of Connecticut)
Dr. Virginia "Ginny" Isava, Award 2018-2019 (California State University, Fullerton)
Dr. Suzanne Birner, Award 2015-2016 (Berea College, Kentucky)
Dr. Dana Thomas, Award 2014-2015 (The University of Texas at Austin)
Dr. Cynthia (Cindy) McClain, Award 2013-2014 (University of Calgary, Canada)

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