FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake established the Doyle W. Stephens Research Program to celebrate Stephens' remarkable scientific contributions toward understanding the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem. This scholarship provides support to undergraduate and graduate students engaged in new or on-going research that focuses on Great Salt Lake and its ecosystem.
Eligibility: Applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled at an accredited college or university. Individuals who have previously received this award are not eligible. The award may be used to support laboratory or field research, attendance at professional meetings, or other activities that further the understanding or protection of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Research located anywhere in the Great Salt Lake watershed can qualify for this award. We will consider projects from any academic field (for instance: ecology, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, geology, urban planning, social sciences, communications, education, economics, tourism, engineering, etc.).
2021 Doyle W. Stephens Applications Due March 15. Click here to apply.
History of Dr. Doyle W. Stephens and the scholarship created in his name.
Doyle Stephens was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1944. He received his BS in Biology from Weber State College in 1967, his MS in Entomology in 1969 and his PhD in Limnology from the University of Utah in 1974.
At the time of his death in May, 2000, he had been a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey for nearly 20 years. In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology.
Doyle Stephens made significant contributions toward public awareness of critical issues relating to Utah's natural resources and environment. Of particular importance were his efforts to increase public knowledge and awareness of the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem. As a contributor to the state's Great Salt Lake Ecosystem project, Doyle's work on Great Salt Lake shrimp ecology helped increase understanding about population dynamics of the shrimp in the lake and factors affecting the structure and density of the population.
"Stephens leaves a broad and deep body of scientific work. His legacy is that his work's contribution to the environment, to the economy, and to the quality of life in Utah will not diminish over time but will continue to grow," says Don Leonard, President, Utah Artemia Association.
Another colleague observed: "Icebergs don't happen in Great Salt Lake, save one. Before he left us so prematurely, we only got to see the tip of Doyle Stephens' impact on the work of almost every other Great Salt Lake investigator. As time passes, we will begin to understand the extent of Doyle's work and the encouragement he lent to others to wonder and search along with him."
Click here to donate. With your help, FRIENDS can continue to support and promote research critical to the conservation of Great Salt Lake.
| Thank You To Our 2019 Donors | Thank You To Our 2018 Donors | Thank You To Our 2017 Donors | Thank you to our 2016 Donors |
| Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, Inc. | Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, Inc. | Lynn & Bradley Carroll | Jim Carter |
| Great Salt Lake Audubon | Great Salt Lake Audubon | Gail Blattenberger | Jim and Edna Ehleringer |
| Mark Brunson | The Nature Conservancy | Robert Baskin & Lisa Watts Baskin | Jody Gunderson & Bill Heeschen |
| Joe Gardner | Bill Heeschen & Judy Gunderson | Joe Gardner & Nancy Bush | Vincie Giles |
| Vincie Giles | The Nature Conservancy | Joseph Hicks | |
| Bill Heeschen & Judy Gunderson | Joanna Endter-Wada | Frank Jarvis | |
| Laird Norton |
|
Ali Sabbah | Bill Trevithick |
| Chris Montague | Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, Inc. | Joanna Endter-Wada | |
| Jeff Richards | William and Donna Vogel | ||
| Kenneth Sassen | Bruce and Kathy Waddell | ||
| Pete Webb |
Doyle W. Stephens Scholarship Recipients
2004 - Ashlee Allred, Undergraduate, Westminster College "Phytoprotective pigment production by Great Salt Lake microbes"
2005 - Carla Koons Trentelman, Ph.D. student, Utah State University "Place attachment among neighbors of Great Salt Lake and its environs"
2006 & 2007 - Misty Riddle, Undergraduate, Westminster College "Microbial Influence in the Great Salt Lake: Identification of Great Salt Lake Microbes Associated with the Brine Shrimp, Artemia Franciscana"
2017 - Melody Lindsay, Ph.D. student, University of Montana "Effects of Changing Salinity on Microbialite-Associated Primary Producers and Secondary Consumers in Great Salt Lake"
You can read her full proposal here!
2018 – Katherine Barrett, Ph.D. student, University of Notre Dame "Linking Artemia To The Benthos: Do Microbialites Support Brine Shrimp Production in Great Salt Lake?"
2019 Clint Carney, Ph.D. student, Utah State University "Bringing Great Salt Lake into Utah's Water Reallocation Conversation"
2019 Chloe Fender, B.A. student, Westminster College "Snowmelt Contaminant Pulses in the Wasatch Mountains"
2020 Molly Blakowski, Utah State University Department of Watershed Sciences, for her project Historical trends in dust emissions from the shrinking Great Salt Lake and projections for human and environmental exposure risks
2020 Melissa Cobo, Utah State University, for her project Effects of Desiccation on Carbon Fluxes in the Great Salt Lake.
