Craig Connolly travels to the Arctic to collect his research samples. Pictured here on beach runway in Kaktovik, Alaska. Courtesy photo.If you see Craig Connolly in the lab or around town he will probably be smiling. Craig is a graduate student under guidance of Dr. Jim McClelland and is seeking to earn his doctorate while studying marine and freshwater biogeochemistry in Arctic systems. He recently was awarded an internship from the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometer lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This internship will take Connolly to Woods Hole, Massachusetts where he’ll to learn how to prepare and conduct radiocarbon measurements of groundwater. He’ll use this technique in his research to track the sources of organic matter found in groundwater and rivers entering lagoons along the Eastern Alaska Beaufort Sea coast. Connolly left for Woods Hole last weekend and will go again in the fall. Only two graduate students from the U.S. were awarded this internship.As a graduate student, what more can you ask for? Maybe… A prestigious fellowship that pays for a full-year of study. Just last week, Connolly was awarded a graduate research fellowship from the North Pacific Research Board. The fellowship will support a full year of research to investigate groundwater sources, composition, and bioavailability of organic matter inputs to these Arctic lagoons. Only three Ph.D. and three Master students across the U.S. were selected for this fellowship.
Congratulations Craig!
