Zeigler Student Achievement Award
The Zeigler Student Achievement Award honors Dr. John Zeigler, VIMS’ first Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and Mrs. Marilyn Zeigler. The award recognizes students who excel in scholarship, leadership, research initiative, outstanding publications, and exceptional thesis or dissertation work.
This year’s recipient is Meredith Evans Seeley.
Meredith has been stellar as a student and colleague since her arrival at VIMS in 2017. She has earned more than a dozen awards during her academic career, most recently the Best PhD Student presentation at the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry North American Meeting and the 2021 PEO International Scholar Award for achievement by women in doctoral-level programs.
Meredith has given 17 scientific presentations as first author, several invited; plus 16 talks to lay audiences. She has 12 manuscripts published, in press, or submitted; 5 as first author, including the previously mentioned Nature Communications paper. Her 2020 publications have earned over 100 citations.
Meredith’s research is highly interdisciplinary, focusing on the interaction of microplastics with living systems. She was instrumental in securing a major NOAA-funded project that involved coordinating four faculty from diverse disciplines—no small feat.
Meredith has also been active in education. She taught a popular course at W&M, developed K-12 lesson plans, and is now collaborating with Project Jason. Meredith also mentored a Governor’s School student who in turn won Grand Prize at her regional science fair.
Meredith has further distinguished herself by serving on an impressive number of external committees related to environmental quality and diversity, and has been active at VIMS as a student rep on numerous committees and councils.
Meredith recently accepted a prestigious National Research Council post-doc position to continue her research on microplastics, beginning Spring of 2022. We are extremely pleased to award Meredith this Award.