Dr. Kira Shanks Nominated as UA Representative, CQG/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

Wyant College Spring 2022 Ph.D. graduate, Dr. Kira Shanks, has been nominated as the University of Arizona representative going forward for consideration to win the science and engineering category for the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Two awards are given annually to university-nominated candidates recognizing their completed dissertations of original work that make an unusually significant contribution in the discipline. 

In Dr. Shanks' case, this represents her success on her Ph.D. thesis, "Infrared Polarimetry for Remote Sensing." For her doctoral research project, she worked from concept to near-space deployment of a polarimeter which is enabling future work in climate modeling and forecasting. Dr. Shanks was featured by UANews for her Spring 2022 launch of the instrument into the upper atmosphere. Dr. Shanks completed her Ph.D. dissertation with the advisement of Prof. Meredith Kupinski. Take a look at Dr. Shank's nomination to the Dissertation Award.