UNM Honors Student Ian Hutchinson Receives Prestigious Global Research Awards for Studies in Paraguay
April 25, 2024 - Anna Abeyta
Congratulations to Honors student Ian Hutchinson who has been awarded both the 2024 UNM Deborah Rifenbary Memorial Globally-Engaged Research Undergraduate Student Award and an Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Field Research Awards for research that he has undertaken in the Honors College!
Ian is a third year undergraduate studying for a BS in Biology and a Distinction in the Honors College with a focus on paleontology. For the past two years he has collaborated with Honors' Dr. Jason Moore on a paleontological research project in Paraguay studying modern day bone preservation along the Pilcomayo River to compare to the fossil record. This research aims to improve our ability to reconstruct ecosystems in the past along with building international relations with researchers from Paraguay and other universities in the US. Ian is now developing his own research project that he will lead in the summer of 2024 focusing on the preservation of animal trackways along the Pilcomayo.
The 2024 UNM Deborah Rifenbary Memorial Globally-Engaged Research Undergraduate Student Award was awarded to Ian based on outstanding independence, diligence, and professional growth while doing fieldwork in Paraguay. This award commemorates Professor Deborah Rifenbary, a former professor and Interim Dean in the College of Education and Human Sciences at UNM whose career was dedicated to promoting student success and international collaboration.
The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Field Research Award was awarded to Ian through the Latin American and Iberian Institute to help support his future research endeavors in Paraguay for the Summer of 2024.
