Dr. Ronald ("Ronnie") Daanen Memorial Award

Dr. Ronald ("Ronnie") P. Daanen. The US permafrost community honors our colleague Dr. Ronald P. Daanen (1972–2023). Ronnie Daanen, along with two other colleagues at the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys and a pilot, died on 20 July 2023 in a helicopter crash at Lake Itinik on the North Slope of Alaska. He was 51 years old.

Ronnie was a permafrost hydrologist with an endless curiosity and desire to understand the workings of the natural world. He advanced our understanding of the permafrost environment through his interdisciplinary thinking and fieldwork.

Ronnie believed in understanding the landscape as a whole. Spending time and being truly present in a landscape allowed him to make careful observations that revealed connections among all the aspects of the environment. We honor his memory with this award to support permafrost hydrology-related fieldwork.

Award Details:

This award of up to $1,000 is intended to support undergraduate and graduate students in permafrost hydrology-related fieldwork, a subject Ronnie spent his career studying. The application will open in the Fall of 2024, details on how to apply will be announced on this webpage. Applicants will be expected to describe how their proposed field work relates to permafrost hydrology. 

Remembering Ronnie:

Photos are courtesy of Dr. Margaret Darrow and Dr. Gabriel Wolken.

 "Can't Stop This?" by the Frozen Debris Lobes