Geology alumna awarded fellowship for climate research
Sarah McGrath ’17, a geology major at 69ֱ, was awarded aSchlangerOcean Drilling Fellowship which provides merit-based grants for graduate students enrolled in a doctoral program who plan to conduct research related to the International Ocean Discovery Program. Chosen for the 2020-21 academic year, McGrath was able to use the $30,000 to fund a chapter of her dissertation. Currently a doctoral candidate at Brown University, McGrath studies paleoclimatology, the study of past climates, andearned her master’s at the same institution in 2019. “My paleoclimate research focuses on understanding Indian summer monsoon variabilityover the last million years,” McGrath said. “By improving our understanding of monsoonalrainfall andcirculation, we can better predict how the Indian summer monsoon will change due toanthropogenic, or human-caused,climate change.”
After receiving her master’s, McGrath spent the summer sailing off the coast of Chile conducting research on sediment in the southern Pacific Ocean. “I was a member of the science team, working as asedimentologist, describing sediment corestakenfrom up to 100 meters below the seafloor,” she said. McGrathfelt prepared for thishands-on research experienceaftertaking partinseveralsimilaropportunities as a Wooster student.“I was able to do geology research as part of the sophomore research program and as a Claire Booth Luce Research Scholar, in addition to Independent Study,”shesaid.This included fieldand labwork withearth sciences professors, Shelley Judge and Gregory Wiles, as well as summer internships at Columbia University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.“These research projects furthered my lab and analytical skills while allowing me to fine tune myresearch interests in paleoclimate,”McGrath said.
Planning to graduate in 2022, McGrath publishedherabout the monsoon researchin the journal,Geophysical Research Letters,and has the goal of becoming a professor.For Wooster students interested in pursuing related topics at Wooster or post-graduation, McGrath advised, “Take advantage of research opportunities and summerinternshipsat Woosterandtry out different research areasto determine what ismost interesting to you!”
Above: Sarah McGrath ’17 conducting research off the coast of Chile in summer 2019
Posted in Alumni on April 19, 2021.
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