Two USC Geography Ph.D students recognized with grants from the Office of the Vice-President for Research

Geography Ph.D. students Holly Smith and Junyu Lu have been named recipients of 2016-2017 SPARC Graduate Research Grants. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity (SPARC) Graduate Research Grant is a merit-based award designed to ignite research and creative excellence across all disciplines. The overall objective of the SPARC Graduate Research Grant is to provide support and to encourage outstanding students to pursue exciting research directions during their graduate career at USC. Ms. Smith will use her funding to conduct field work in Jordan associated with her dissertation, “Narrating Social Changes through the Experiences of Ammani Youth Caught in the Middle of a Regional Palimpsest”. Mr. Lu’s funding will support his dissertation work, “Spatial Patterns of Future Drought Risks in the United States”. Since the SPARC program was started in 2012, eight Geography students have received SPARC awards, making our department one of the most recognized units in the College of Arts and Sciences.