Becky Young, graduate student and research assistant; Aaron Young, groundwater resources coordinator; and Paul Hanson, SNR associate director, have been selected to receive the Charles E. Bessey Award for best natural sciences article published in volume 23 of Great Plains Research.
"Winning this award is personal validation that I am in fact contributing some valuable knowledge to the realm of natural science," Becky said. "It has motivated me to work that much harder on my research as a Ph.D. student."
The team's winning article, "Late Holocene Activation History of the Stanton Dunes, Northeastern Nebraska," focuses on documenting the activation history of a small dune field along the eastern margins of the Great Plains near Stanton, Nebraska.
The article is based on Becky's master's degree research and thesis. Field and laboratory work was conducted primarily during the summer and fall semesters of 2010.
"We used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to determine when eolian sediments from these dunes were active, and compared those activations to those of the Nebraska Sandhills and other major central Great Plains dune fields," Becky said.
The small dune field was found to have activation ages that closely agree with dune activation records from the Nebraska Sandhills and other major central Great Plains dune fields.
Additionally, a cluster of younger dune activation ages found suggests that the Stanton Dunes may have been activated by a locally important drought event. That event had a more limited impact on dunes found in the west, when the Nebraska Sandhills were thought to be largely inactive.
"Becky's work from the Stanton Dunes showed that there are always new discoveries to be made," said Hanson, who served as Becky's master's thesis adviser. "Her findings showed that the Stanton Dunes were active around 800 years, but also, and quite unexpectedly, they were also active between 400-500 years ago. We knew there were droughts in the Plains at this time from other records, but didn't know they were significant enough to generate dune movement in eastern Nebraska."
Great Plains Research presents two annual awards for the best articles published during a volume year: The Charles E. Bessey Award for natural science and the Leslie Hewes Award for social science. The Bessey Award was announced in 2000 with the first award presented in spring 2000. The Hewes Award was announced in 1997 with the first award presented in spring 1998. Each award includes a cash stipend of $250.
The awards will be formally announced and presented at the annual Fellows Luncheon of the Center for Great Plains Studies on May 7 in the Nebraska East Union.
"There are a number of very good articles in Great Plains Research each year, and to be singled out for this is terrific and a testament to Becky's hard work and determination," Hanson said. "It is an honor."
— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources