Leo Cup Winner 2023
During the 2023 Convocation Ceremony, the School of Oceanography celebrated its annual scholarship and fellowship awardees and unveiled the third Leo Cup recipient, Morgan Palmer, an undergraduate student in chemical oceanography. Morgan, along with her mentor, Dr. Kendall Valentine, will be studying the distribution of pollutants, such as plastics and other contaminants, in coastal waters as well as the open ocean. The goal of this study is to evaluate the extent of anthropogenic influence on marine ecosystems at the molecular level and better understand the connection between these contaminants and microbial communities.
Attendees of the event included friends of the Leo Maddox family, along with Sabah Al-Dhaher, the artist who created the beautiful Leo Cup sculpture, which is viewable in the first-floor lobby of the Ocean Sciences Building. The celebration also included remarks from Iris Kern (last year’s Leo Cup recipient), and Dr. Parker MacCready (the Leo Maddox Endowed Professor in Oceanography).
We invite you to click here to learn more about the vision and inspiration behind the Leo Cup and how it provides opportunities for young scientists to pursue their passions and explore innovative solutions to understand and address the impacts of ocean pollution and plastics. We also welcome you to visit the Leo Cup display in the Ocean Sciences Building to learn more about Leo’s legacy and passion for protecting the ocean.
The School of Oceanography expresses its appreciation to the Leo Maddox Family and Vivian Ho for their generosity and vision in supporting the Leo Cup as the School’s premier research award, along with their other impactful student and faculty support programs within our community.
If you are interested in applying or learning more the Leo Cup, please contact Michelle Towsend at mtown@uw.edu.
Photo credits: Kathy Newell
