Erin E. Saupe Finley

Erin is a 2009-2013 Self Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in geology. She received a B.A. in natural science, geology concentration, (2007) from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. As an undergraduate she was on the Dean’s Lists for four years and received numerous awards including the Dom Rosendo Salvado Prize for highest academic honors during her study abroad in Australia and the Best Honors Senior Thesis. Erin has worked as a freelance writer for Geotimes, co-edited Studio One, a literary magazine produced at the College of St. Benedict, and served as a teaching and research assistant at her undergraduate institution. In 2006 she was awarded a research internship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. She has received the Paleontological Society’s Caster Research Grant Award and the Winifred Goldring Award from the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG). She is currently the president of the KU AWG chapter. At KU, Erin received the geology department’s Erasmus S. Haworth Distinguished Graduate Award for her outstanding contribution to the department during her master’s degree. Erin plans to investigate biogeographic patterns and use quantitative techniques to help understand the mechanisms and processes influencing evolution and species distribution. In the future she hopes to conduct research in an academic or museum setting, and perhaps provide expertise for policy issues to the federal government. Mentor: Paul A. Selden, Distinguished Professor, Geology