The Bay Area Geophysical Society and the Hohmann Wannamaker Trust are pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Louise “Lu” Pellerin Memorial Scholarship, Kyla de Villa. Kyla is a fourth year Ph.D. student in the department of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on the geophysics of planetary interiors, where materials can exist at extreme temperatures and pressures. In her research, Kyla has used computational modeling to perform numerical dynamo simulations to determine if planetary interior models match observed magnetic fields, and has predicted and modeled a new state of matter at extreme conditions (“double superionicity”) which has never been seen or characterized before and which can improve our understanding of the interiors of Uranus and Neptune.
In addition to her stellar academic record, the scholarship committee were especially impressed by how Kyla’s extra-curricular activities aligned with Lu’s life-long personal goals of increasing inclusivity and diversity in geophysics Kyla is an advocate for STEM mentoring, with goals of improving retention and feelings of belonging for underrepresented communities, particularly in physics-adjacent fields. Kyla revitalized the grad student peer mentoring program in the UC Berkeley Earth and Planetary Science department, helping undergraduates, junior, and senior PhD students to meet regularly in small groups to discuss best practices in aspects of academic life, and she organizes weekly seminars for more than 40 graduate students and postdocs. Kyla has also developed and led STEM workshops for middle school students and is an active and committed teacher of undergraduate students.
With the scholarship money, Kyla plans to attend the AGU annual meeting this year in Washington, DC, where she hopes to present three projects from her thesis work. We wish Kyla great success at AGU and in her geophysical career!
If you would like to contribute to BAGS and help fund the Louise Pellerin Scholarship for future recipients, please visit https://bayareageophysicalsociety.org/donate/.