UM Foundation
Private industry gifts help grad students learn real-world skills
Senior hydrogeologist Doug Rogness, right, of AMEC Geomatrix and a local mine employee collect a water sample in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa.
Come June, James Johnsen was going to get a generic summer job to pay the bills while studying for his master’s degree in UM’s Department of Geosciences.
But thanks to a recent scholarship gift from AMEC Geomatrix—a diversified technical consulting and engineering firm—Johnsen will devote this summer to researching the impact of the Milltown Dam removal in the Clark Fork River.
“My fieldwork is very intense and I have to work sixteen-hour days in May and June, so this gift is a big help,” says Johnsen, who will sample river-bottom sediment during runoff as part of research into the nation’s largest Superfund project.
AMEC Geomatrix has offices worldwide, including one in Missoula, where five graduates of the UM geosciences master’s program now work. The company recently gave an annual gift of $10,000 for 2008-09 to the University’s geosciences department to support students working toward a master’s degree in applied water science. Johnsen, along with UM student Tabetha Lynch, each received a $5,000 scholarship.
The AMEC Geomatrix Student Fund in Applied Water Science scholarships are earmarked for students interested in issues ranging from contaminant transport and groundwater modeling to stream processes and restoration. A UM geosciences department committee selects the scholarship recipients, who then submit a summary of how the gift has expanded their knowledge of water science.
K. Bill Clark, a senior hydrogeologist at Geomatrix in Missoula, says the company wants to help UM recruit and retain top graduate students.
“Geomatrix always wants to invest in good people, and we have a deep sense of gratitude to The University of Montana,” Clark says.
Clark, a UM alumnus, says Geomatrix recognizes the value of higher education in developing a high-caliber work force. The company provides similar scholarships to other universities.
As part of its gift to UM, Geomatrix has offered to mentor master’s students and lend its expertise to the geosciences department.
Professor Bill Woessner, chair of the UM Department of Geosciences, says Geomatrix knows that UM’s graduate students are among the best in the world.
“Geomatrix’s gift helps us to give our students the education and critical thinking and tools they need in today’s world,” Woessner says.
UM Provost Royce Engstrom says Geomatrix’s gift is significant. It will help the University strengthen and expand its graduate programs, help its graduate students prepare for productive careers, and help the world protect its water resources.
Engstrom says gifts from private industry are increasingly important for attracting top graduate students. Geomatrix’s gift “allows more of our graduates to go on to careers that address the critical issue of how Montana, the United States, and the world can protect our precious water resources,” he says.
Perry Brown, UM’s interim associate provost for graduate education, says gifts from Geomatrix and other corporations allow graduate students to focus on their classroom studies and field research rather than worry about paying their bills. “It really allows us to attract the best and brightest students,” he says.
Johnsen will use part of his scholarship money to buy a computer to analyze research data he collects this summer. “This gift allows me not to have to worry about rent and food and other things, so I can concentrate on my fieldwork,” he says.
To learn how you can help support UM students, call the UM Foundation at 800-443-2593 or go online to www.umt.edu/umf.
– John Cramer
