Research Opportunities

As an earth and environmental sciences student at Murray State, you’ll have access to state-of-the-art research facilities like the Watershed Studies Institute, Mapping Applications and Resource Center (MARC), SedSoil Human Lab and Archaeology Lab.

You’ll also have opportunities to gain hands-on experience by working with faculty mentors to pursue research about topics you’re interested in learning more about. Break ground. Find solutions. It’s all there for you to discover.  

Recent Student Awards

  • Skylar Ross
    Received 2023 KentuckyView Graduate Fellowship Award
  • Madalyn Hake
    Received 2023 KentuckyView Undergraduate Fellowship Award
  • Lacy Risner
    Received 2022 Outstanding Student Research Award
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Clint Cornelison
    Received 2021 KentuckyView Undergraduate Fellowship Award
  • Skylar Ross
    Recipient of 2023 JCSET Travel Grant Award
  • Kyle Klass
    Outstanding Graduate Poster, 2021 MSU Sigma-Xi Poster Competition
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robin Zhang
  • Lacy Risner
    Received a JCSET Graduate Research Grant
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Alex Cline
    Received an AIPG-Kentucky Student Scholarship Award
  • Kevin Wann
    Received an ORCA research grant for research in Jamaica and an ORCA travel grant to present at the 2019 Annual meeting of the Sociey for American Archaeology in Albuquerque
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Lacy Risner
    Received an ORCA research grant and a Gilman scholarship for research in Jamaica, and an ORCA travel grant to present at the 2019 Annual meeting of the Sociey for American Archaeology in Albuquerque
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Matt Meyer
    Received an ORCA travel grant to present at the 2019 Midwest Conference on Mesoamerican Archaeology and Ethnohistory in Lexington
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Nolan Whitt
    Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Award, 2019 Sigma Xi Poster Competition
    Faculty Advisor: Haluk Cetin
  • Javus Yandal
    Outstanding Graduate Poster Award, 2019 Sigma Xi Poster Competition
    Faculty Advisor: Haluk Cetin
  • Kevin Takashita-Bynum
    Received a $10,000 Early Career Grant from National Geographic for research in East Africa
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
  • Marie White
    Second place undergraduate poster presentation - geology, 2018 Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michelle Casey
  • Molly Karnes
    First place poster presentation in the geology category at the 2017 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michelle Casey
  • Mallory Gerzan
    Second place poster presentation in the geology category at the 2017 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
  • Garner Hancock
    First place poster presentation in the geography category at the 2017 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robin Zhang
  • Phil Roberson
    First place graduate oral presentation in the geology category at the 2017 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michelle Casey
  • Steven Collett
    Recipient of a fellowship from the Office of Research and Creative Activity for research on water quality
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Haluk Cetin
  • Travis West
    Second place poster presentation at the 2017 Memphis Area Geographic Information Council (MAGIC) & American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Mid-South Conference
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Haluk Cetin and Dr. Kate He
  • Jacob Pease
    Second place poster presentation in the ecology and environmental science category at the 103rd meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Haluk Cetin
  • Travis West
    Recipient of the NASA Kentucky Space Grant Consortium Fellowship
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Haluk Cetin
  • Ashley Casselberry
    First place undergraduate poster presentation in the geology category at the 2016 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Haluk Cetin
  • Abby Glass
    Recipient of a fellowship from the Office of Research and Creative Activity for research on the inner-ear structure of whales
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michelle Casey
  • Rachel Hendricks
    Received funding from the Office of Research and Creative Activity for her research and forensic analysis of human remains
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Anthony Ortmann
  • Caitlyn Housley
    Recipient of a grant from the Office of Research and Creative Activity
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcie Venter
  • Hongli Yang
    Third place graduate oral presentation in the geography category at the 2016 annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science
    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robin Zhang

Recent Faculty Awards

    • Dr. Bassil El Masri

        Awarded the NSF EPSCoR NASA Research Fellowship

    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      2021 MSU Distinguished Researcher Award
    • Dr. Marcie Vernter
      2020 MSU Emerging Scholar Award
      2020 Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award
    • Dr. Bassil El Masri
      2019 JCSET Outstanding Researcher Award
    • Dr. Michelle Casey
      2019 Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award
    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      Named the 2018 Geologist of the Year by the Kentucky section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists
    • Dr. Haluk Cetin
      Received the 2017 USGS-NASA William T. Pecora Team Award for his work as project manager on the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters Team
    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      Named the 2017 chair-elect of the Soils and Soil Processes Interdisciplinary Interest Group of the Geological Society of America
    • Dr. Marcie Venter
      Named the program editor for the archaeology division of the American Anthropological Association
    • Dr. Haluk Cetin
      Awarded the NASA Kentucky Space Undergraduate Fellowship Grant
    • Dr. Bassil El Masri
      Awarded the NASA Kentucky EPSCoR Program Research Infrastructure Development Grant
    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      Awarded the Electric Power Research Institute Grant
    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      Named the Outstanding Researcher of the Year for the Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Murray State
    • Dr. Haluk Cetin
      Awarded the Bring Learning to Life Grant
    • Dr. Bassil El Masri
      Awarded the Bring Learning to Life Grant
    • Dr. Gary Stinchcomb
      Awarded the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Word Award in 2016 for the Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

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