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Robert H. Wright Fund

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image of Bob Wright 
Purpose: The Robert H. Wright Fund for Earth & Planetary Sciences (EPS) was established in 2025 with a gift of $15,000 and pledges of a similar amount annually while he is living.  Initially the fund will support summer field camp for undergraduate students.  As the fund grows with pledged gifts and donations, the fund will support graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) student research awards in the EPS Department, with a preference to support students engaging in field-based research. On his death, his Estate will establish the Robert H. Wright Endowment Fund with pledged gifts totaling approximately $550,000. The purpose of this fund will be to support graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) student research awards in the EPS Department, with preference to support students engaged in field-based research.  At some time, the Robert H. Wright Fund may be incorporated into the Robert H. Wright Endowment Fund.

 

History: The Robert H. Wright Fund for Earth & Planetary Sciences has been established by alum Robert Harvey Wright, who earned his Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz in 1982.  Field courses and fieldwork experiences he participated in as an undergraduate student at UC Santa Barbara and a graduate student at San Jose State University were iconic experiences, and he wants to ensure that similar experiences and opportunities are available to future generations of geoscientists.  In his over 56-year career, he was a practicing engineering geologist who also benefited greatly from working with geotechnical engineers.  His experience suggests that a M.S. degree is the “sweet spot” for a wide variety of careers as a geologist, although some careers require a Ph.D.

One graduate (probably Ph.D.) research topic of interest to him is the distribution, origin, and age of “mima mounds” and other natural “patterned ground” features. During his career, he studied “mima mounds” along the west side of the Sacramento delta, in the Northern Sacramento Valley around Cottonwood Creek, and on the west flank of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains.  “Mima mounds” have also been identified in Oregon, and occur in the vicinity of UCSC. The origin of mima mounds is uncertain and one of the mysteries of geomorphology.

mima mounts near the West entrance to the UCSC campus. 
Photo of mima mounds near the West Entrance to the UCSC campus.