AGU MICHAEL H. FREILICH STUDENT VISUALIZATION COMPETITION PROGRAM
Competition overview
The AGU Michael H. Freilich Student Visualization Competition Program provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate creative ways to use visualization to present complex problems in the Earth and space sciences as well as transdisciplinary sciences.
The competition is open to individual and teams of undergraduate and graduate students who are legal U.S. residents. This program recognizes the years of support and dedication Michael H. Freilich, former Director of the NASA Earth Science Division, provided students in the Earth and space science community.
Applications open: 13 July 2022
Extended Application deadline: 12 October 2022
Applications are open
Eligibility and application requirements
All Submission Types: The competition is open to students who are legal U.S. residents and enrolled full-time in two- or four-year undergraduate or graduate institutions in the U.S. Previous grand prize winners of the Data Visualization and Storytelling Competition are not eligible to apply. Individual submissions in the Earth and space sciences as well as team submissions in convergent science are acceptable. Co-authors can be recognized in both individual and team submissions.
Team Submissions: Team submissions should be comprised of at least two people and no more than five contributors. If submitting as a team, the team must identify a project lead, who is also responsible for submitting the proposal. proposal and identify how award funds will be distributed between team members. All members of the team must be students and at least one team member should be formally enrolled in a degree program in one of the following fields: social, behavioral, or economic sciences; computer and informational science and engineering; education and human resources. Applicants are limited to one proposal per year and may not resubmit a specific presentation proposal more than once.
Potential Conflicts of Interest: Direct family members (children, sibling, or spouse) of AGU staff are not eligible to participate. Direct family members (children, sibling, or spouse) of NASA personnel may apply, but they must note any direct relations in their application. Applicants who have worked/are currently employed by NASA or a NASA-funded facility must note this in their application.
Applications must contain the following information and applicants should review the Hyperwall How-to Guide for tips.
-
1Project lead and any team members (for team submissions) must be currently enrolled as a full-time student in a U.S.-based degree-granting institution.
-
2A one- to two-paragraph statement of purpose describing the data used and what the scientific potential is for that data.
-
3Description of data set used, and for any non-NASA data sets, details on the authorization of use.
-
4Proposed story and visualization for a presentation no longer than 10 minutes.
-
5Static images and planned visualizations in storyboard format with supporting text of narration and details on how the visualization should work.
-
6Optional: Up to three MP4 files of a one- to three-minute building block/sample of visualization.
-
7For team submissions: Describe the potential benefits of working beyond discipline-specific approaches to collaboratively address common goals.
Evaluation criteria
The competition is focused on innovation and creativity in presenting data in new ways, rather than the scientific problem or specific solution to the problem.
Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
-
The creativity of the presentation and the applicant’s ability to present data and complex problems.
-
The perceived level of impact and engagement the planned presentation incites in audience.
-
The organization and conceivability of the proposed presentation of data.
-
For team submissions, contributing participants must demonstrate collaboration in data sharing.
Prize details
The review committee will select a total of 16 winners, eight grand prize winners and eight runners-up, for the competition. Grand prize winners will be provided professional development opportunities for a duration of three years. If a team is selected as a winner, the team lead will designate how to divide the grant funds. Complimentary AGU Fall Meeting registration will only be awarded to the team lead.
Grand prize winners
Grand prize winners will receive the following:
-
$3000 grant to attend the AGU Fall Meeting (in-person or online)
-
One complimentary registration to the AGU Fall Meeting, including registration to the Student and Early Career Scientist Conference
-
Opportunity to present on the NASA Hyperwall at the AGU Fall Meeting and potentially other scientific meetings featuring the NASA Hyperwall (decision regarding presentation at other meetings is made by NASA)
-
Up to $3,000 to participate in professional development or community outreach opportunities or support one's research and education
- Opportunity to receive mentorship through Mentoring365 and network with other Earth and space scientists
Runners-up
Runners-up will receive the following:
-
$1000 grant to attend the AGU Fall Meeting (in-person or online)
-
One complimentary registration to the AGU Fall Meeting, including registration to the Student and Early Career Scientist Conference
-
Opportunity to receive mentorship through Mentoring365 and network with other Earth and space scientists
Prize details
Financial grant prizes will be awarded to qualifying participants.
Award funds will be disbursed after each confirmation of attendance. Recipients must submit to AGU receipts of conference attendance.
Funds will be dispersed to recipient via electronic payment by AGU.
Past Winners
|
Name |
Academic institution |
Year |
Category |
| Benjamin Yang | Columbia University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Christina Last | MIT | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Jieun Kim | Northwestern University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Lauren Gold | Arizona State University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Otto Briner | University of Illinois - Chicago | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Austin Brenner | University of Michigan | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Jessica Besnier | University of Virginia | 2022 | Grand Prize |
| Zhoobin Rahimi | Stevens Inst. of Technology | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Jacob Gradwohl | Oregon State University | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Jose Pedro Ferreira | Univ. of Southern California | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Kristina Collins | Case Western Reserve Univ. | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Mu-Hua Chien | New York University | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Hsinju Chen | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Marissa Castillo | Ohio State University | 2022 | Runner-up |
| Vincent Ledvina | University of North Dakota | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Kyung Kim | University of Virginia | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Shuyu Chnag | Penn. State University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Safiya Alpheus | Penn. State University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| John He | University of Arizona | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Brayden Noh | California Inst. of Technology | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Lucas Zurbuchen | Northwestern University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Malika Khurana | Carnegie Mellon University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
| Allison Kubo | University of Oregon | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Lauren Gold | Arizona State University | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Phillip Choi | University of Pennsylvania | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Arka Mitra | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Monika Ruwaimana | University of Oregon | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Daniel Babin | Columbia University | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Devika Elakara | University of Maryland | 2021 | Runner-up |
| Solomon Vimal | UCLA | 2021 | Runner-up |
|
Jaime Callejon Hierro |
University of Maryland |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
Adam Chmurzynski |
University of Arizona |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
Brandi Downs |
Ohio State University |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
Daniel O'Hara |
University of Oregon |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
Michael Sautter |
Johns Hopkins University |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
Richard Thaxton |
University of Arizona |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
|
David Clemens-Sewall |
Dartmouth College |
2020 |
Runner-up |
|
Monika Ruwaimana |
University of Oregon |
2020 |
Runner-up |
|
Solomon Vimal |
University of California Los Angeles |
2020 |
Runner-up |
|
Jacob Austin |
Columbia University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Anna Barth |
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Julia Carr |
Pennsylvania State University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Eleanor Lutz |
University of Washington, Seattle |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Gigi Pavur |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Amanda Price |
Washington University, St Louis |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Veronica Southerland |
George Washington University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Wen-Ying Wu |
University of Texas at Austin |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
|
Atieh Alipour |
University of Alabama |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Riley Brady |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Adam Chlus |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Julianne Davis |
Syracuse University |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Vincent Ledvina |
University of North Dakota |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Donal O'Leary |
University of Maryland, College Park |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Aodhan Sweeney |
University of Washington, Seattle |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Samantha Wallace |
NASA Goddard Space Flight |
2019 |
Runner-up |
|
Owen Evans |
Columbia University of New York |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Meghan Jones |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Megan Link |
James Madison University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Jack Miller |
Iowa State University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Aleks Siemenn |
University at Albany - SUNY |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Alison Thieme |
University of Maryland |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
|
Jacob Adler |
Arizona State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Behzad Ahmadi |
Portland State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Anastasia Alexandrova |
Wayne State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Kara Cassano |
Texas A&M University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Corbin Kling |
North Carolina State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Rich Pauloo |
University of California Davis |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Amir Salaree |
Northwestern University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
|
Andrea Albright |
University of Houston |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Parker Hinton |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Rebecca Lehman |
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Yu Mo |
University of Maryland |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Jason West |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Mahkameh Zarekarizi |
Portland State University |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
|
Bogumilia Backiel |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Chelsea Johnson |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Yusuf Sermet |
University of Iowa |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Alison Thieme |
University of Maryland |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Anne Wilkinson |
University of Minnesota |
2017 |
Runner-up |
|
Allison Daniel |
University of Alabama, Huntsville |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
|
Kaytan Kelkar |
Texas A&M University |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
|
Matthew Ross |
Duke University |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
|
Mejs Hasan |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
|
Sara Lubkin |
Northern Virginia Community College |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
|
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
|
John Granholm |
Appalachian State University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
|
Lana Narine |
Texas A&M University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
|
Meredith Goebel |
Stanford University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
|
Sophie Goliber |
University at Buffalo, SUNY |
2016 |
Runner-up |