John Wesley “Wes” Buchanan, II, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, for his project: Partial melting history of the Nashoba terrane with implications for tectonic evolution. John is beginning his fourth year at the Colorado School of Mines, working on a doctoral dissertation that focuses on the tectonometamorphic history of the accreted Nashoba terrane of eastern Massachusetts. His research focuses on combining metamorphic petrology, phase equilibria modelling, geochronology and structural geology to elucidate the evolution of the Nashoba terrane and then place it into the overall framework of the New England Appalachians. While at the Colorado School of Mines, he has been a teaching assistant and taught labs in introductory geology, earth materials/mineralogy and multiple levels of structural geology. He graduated with a Master of Science from Auburn University in 2008. his thesis was entitled, “Tectonic Evolution of a Caledonian-Aged Continental Basement Eclogite Terrane in Liverpool Land, East Greenland.” This project utilized metamorphic petrology, structural and kinematic analysis, geothermobarometry, and geochronology to unravel the burial and uplift history of an eclogite bearing terrane. At Auburn University, John was a teaching assistant and lab coordinator for the introductory level geology classes. His love of geology began and was fostered at the University of Kentucky, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2007.