Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

Mary Leech, a member of the Cherokee nation, began her college career at San Jose State University, where she graduated with a BS in Geology in 1994. She then attended graduate school at Stanford University. In 1999, she finished her studies for her PhD in Geological and Environmental Studies. During her time at Stanford, she held a National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowship. Since her time as an NSF fellow, she has received multiple grants for funding from the foundation.

Dr. Mary Leech has traveled to and studied a variety of geologic features in numerous countries. Her field research has brought her to Tibet, the Indian Himalayas, China, Norway, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Great Britain. Her current research interests include studying structural geology and tectonics, geochemistry, geochronology, and igneous and metamorphic petrology. Dr. Leech’s work in progress is being funded by an NSF grant. Dr. Leech and her colleagues will use the funding to purchase a field emission scanning electron microscope, which will be beneficial to students and faculty in their studies of chemistry, the geosciences, biology, physics, and engineering.

For more information on Dr. Mary Leech and other GRFP Fellows, please visit the Profiles of NSF Graduate Research Fellows site.