Jo Ann Kvamme, assistant director of the Graduate School and International Education's Environmental Dynamics graduate program, and Steve Boss, professor of environmental dynamics and sustainability, both received the Ambassador Award from the National Association of Black Geoscientists during their annual national conference held Sept. 27-30 in Washington, D.C.

Boss and Kvamme were presented the award by Jerome Murphy, past president of NABG, and Kashauna Mason, a U of A alumna and current Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University. The award was given to them "for their relentless support of NABG, continuously and unwaveringly driving our mission of developing and mentoring the next generation of geoscientists," Murphy said during the presentation.

"Dr. Boss and Jo Ann have provided significant contributions in securing funding and supporting logistics and most importantly the students for NABG conferences for over a decade," Murphy added.   

Boss and Kvamme have supported the NABG and the conference since the late-2000s, when Kvamme first attended the conference as a recruiter for the U of A and left "as part of the NABG family," she said. Additionally, Boss has secured grant funds from the National Science Foundation for U of A students to attend the conference since 2009, when the U of A hosted the conference on its campus.

Since then, the conference has become a strong recruiting channel for the Environmental Dynamics program. Boss and Kvamme have attended in part through travel grants from the Graduate School and International Education.

"It is a cherished honor to receive the NABG Ambassador Award alongside my long-time colleague, JoAnn Kvamme, this year," said Boss, who is also a university professor of geosciences, past director of the Environmental Dynamics program and one of the founders of the sustainability program on campus. "The organizers surprised me with this award, and I acknowledge them and thank them with deepest gratitude. For 15 years, NABG has freely shared their humanity with me, granting me the privilege of more fully experiencing my own."

This year, more than 90 students from universities across the United States were able to attend through a collaborative grant from the NSF awarded to Boss and Dr. Margaret Fraiser of the American Geophysical Union. Students presented 18 oral talks and 35 posters.

"I was extremely honored to accept this award from NABG along with my collaborator Dr. Steve Boss," Kvamme said. "I want to thank NABG for providing me the opportunity to serve the talented and gifted student members of NABG and assist in the organization's mission of providing opportunities and increasing diversity in the geosciences."

 The National Association of Black Geoscientists was founded in 1981 with the purpose of enabling Black geoscientists to connect, communicate and network with other minority professionals. Since then, the organization has evolved into a hub that attracts geoscientists from diverse fields, offering them opportunities to partake in career and educational endeavors, present cutting-edge research, build connections, advance professionally and provide mentorship to aspiring Black geoscientists.