THE SPACKMAN AWARD
Graduate Student Research Grants

TSOP has awarded research grants to graduate students since 1999. In 2005, the grant was named the William Spackman Student Research Award. William Spackman, throughout his career at The Pennsylvania State University, played a leading role in educating many people who are now active in the organic petrology field. Many in TSOP were either Bill's student or had Bill serve on their graduate committee. Graduates at schools such as Southern Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, and others, represent the second generation of Bill's influence. His long dedication to coal education has made it appropriate to name this award after him. Bill was highly influential throughout the history of the North American Coal Petrographers, and was the first President-Elect and second President of TSOP. He was made an Honorary Member in 1994.

 

Year

Spackman Award Recipients

2023






Hafidz Noor Fikri
Montanuniversität Leoben, AUSTRIA / Lambung Mangkurat University, INDONESIA
&
Jiawei Feng

China University of Mining and Technology, CHINA


2022






Itumeleng Venessa Matlala
University of Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA
&
Mateusz Wolszczak

University of Wrocław, POLAND


2021









Leibo Bian
Aarhus University, DENMARK
Refining organic interaction of redox metals in the lower Palaeozoic Alum Shale
&
Wei Li

University of Nottingham, UK
Simulation and experimental characterization of water effect on methane adsorption in shale through kerogen


2020


Not awarded.


2019










Xiaowei Zheng
Aarhus University, DENMARK
Organic petrology and geochemical characteristics of the Lower Paleozoic
Shales of Scandinavia
&
Xin Guo

China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), CHINA
Petrographic characteristics of residues derived from coal pyrolysis and gasification



2018




Kuo Li
China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), CHINA
Structural transformations of natural graphitazed coals from China


2017









Dakota Lindsey
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA
Preservation of organic matter in the New Albany Shale (IL)
&
Manuel Paez
University of Houston, Texas, USA
Revealing the influence of volcanism, silicate weathering and organic productivity on the carbon cycle in the Cenomanian-Turonian


2016








Quin Ryan Scott Miller
University of Wyoming, USA
Neutron scattering study of porosity evolution in unconventional reservoirs
&
Qiang Wei
China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), CHINA
Organic affinity of trace elements in Ge-rich coals from China


2015









Amberley Tobin
Southern Illinois University, USA
Geochemical and maceral composition of the Illinois Basin slurry ponds: Economic implications via the OHD process
&
Ashley Manning-Berg
University of Tennessee, USA
Effects of biogeochemical processes on the preservation of Paleozoic algal mats


2014




Carl Peters
Macquarie University, AUSTRALIA
Biomarkers and fluid inclusions of early Earth using samples from Australia


2014





Sophia Bratenkov
Macquarie University, AUSTRALIA
Exploration of Miocene biomarkers in cored sedimentary rocks from IODP Expedition 317, Canterbury Basin, New Zealand


2014





Arka Rudra
Indian Institute of Technology, INDIA
Palaeo-environmental and palaeoclimatic studies of Palaeogene sediments and oils, Upper Assam Shelf, India


2014






Julian Zapata
National University of Colombia, COLOMBIA
Petrographic and geochemical evaluation of core samples in horizontal drilling from Amagá Formation coals, to identify lateral variation of organic matter and content of the hydrocarbons present


2013





Joy Buongiorno
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
Time-series analysis of paired isotopic compositions of Ccarb and Corg in mineralized microbialites of the High Andes, Argentina


2013




Trent Garrison
University of Kentucky, USA
Environmental effects of coal mine fires


2012




Rita Susilawati
University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Controls on microbial methane generation in selected low-rank Indonesian coals


2011





Hayley Manners
University of Plymouth, UK
High-resolution compound-specific carbon isotope study of the PETM in northern Spain


2011




Mohammad Wahid Rahman
Southern Illinois University, USA
Geochemistry and petrology of thermally altered coals


2010





Kristen Miller
University of Maryland, USA
Metazoans of the Mesoproterozoic? A paleoenvironmental and paleobiological evaluation of biomarkers from the Vazante Group, Brazil


2010





Chris Mays
Monash University, AUSTRALIA
South Polar environments: new data and insights from the Tapuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, SW Pacific


2009





Dawn Hayes
Utah State University, USA
Sequence stratigraphic microfossil and geochemical analysis of the Neoproterozoic Red Pine Shale, Uinta Mountain Group: evidence of biotic change driven by eutrophication?

2009





Asep Permana
University of New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Influence of igneous intrusions on coal seam characteristics in the South Walker Creek area, Bowen Basin, Queensland


2009





Margaret McPherson
University of Kentucky / Southern Illinois University, USA
Geochemistry and petrography of thermally metamorphosed Antarctic coal: implications for 13C-depleted methane release


2008




Kaydy Pinetown
University of New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Factors Affecting Gas in Coal Systems with Special Reference to the Hunter Coalfield


2007





Lois Yoksulian
University of Kentucky, USA
Petrography and Geochemistry of Contact Metamorphosed Coals: Implications for the Release of 12C-enriched Methane


2006






Rachael Von Mann
University of Kentucky, USA
Influence of primary productivity on organic matter preservation in the middle Ordovician Decorah Formation and the Late Ordovician Maquoketa Group of eastern Iowa


2006





Tenille Mares
University of Canterbury, NEW ZEALAND
Geological and geochemical controls on fracture and pore systems in relation to gas flow regimes in the Huntly Basin


2005






Sarah Hawkins
University of Kentucky, USA
The role of terrestrial organic matter in the Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Appalachian marine basin: Implications for the expansion of land plants, paleo-atmospheric oxygen levels and organic-rich black shale accumulation


2004




Mark Harvey
Indiana University, USA
Aciniform Soot in K/T Boundary Sediments


2003




Daniel Ross
The University of British Columbia, CANADA
Gas Potential of Canadian Black Shales and the Role of Organic Matter


2002




Bethany Burnett
The University of New Mexico, USA
Formation Mechanisms of Hydrocarbons in Volcanic Gases


2001




Sharleen Ramos
The University of British Columbia, CANADA
Gas Shale Resources - Role of Organic Matter


2000





Michelle Hawke
The University of British Columbia, CANADA
Anthropogenic trace metals in peats in the environs of industrial point sources - a combined geochemical and petrographic approach


2000





Rachel Walker
Indiana University, USA
Elemental composition of coal macerals:
distribution of nitrogen as determined from an electron microprobe


1999





Nadir Taskin Akpulat
University of Calgary, CANADA
Hydrocarbon generation kinetics of the Lower Cretaceous Ostracode Zone and quantitative basin modeling, Alberta Basin, Canada




s
++++