KGS Postdoc Wins Research Travel Award

KGS postdoctoral scholar Belkasim Khameiss has received the Buzas Award for Travel from the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research. The award will allow Khameiss to study the renowned Cushman Collection of foraminifera (single-celled organisms found in marine brackish environments) at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Khameiss will travel to Washington in August to pursue his study, titled “Biostratigraphic evaluation of benthic foraminifera across the Marmaton-Pleasanton Group boundary in Kansas.” His research has broad application to determining the age of Kansas rocks, understanding climate change and biostratigraphy, and using these components to map rock layers and identify characteristics of underground reservoirs. His work analyzing past events in the geological time scale contributes to predicting the future of climate change.

“This is particularly valuable as there are very few foraminiferal micropaleontologists in North America,” Khameiss said.

The Buzas Award for Travel was established in 2017 by Martin A. Buzas, past director and president of the Cushman Foundation, and his family to support foraminiferal researchers in conducting studies at the Cushman Collection at the Smithsonian. Buzas was a curator at the Smithsonian from 1963 to 2022.