Ruth Schmidt set up the Edward and Anna Range Schmidt Charitable Trust to honor her parents and provide opportunities for students studying the earth sciences.

After her death in 2014, numerous other philanthropic works were detailed, including generous support for the Alaska Museum of Natural History and a donation of wetlands that is now part of the Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department.

The Schmidt Charitable Trust was established in 1993 to encourage and assist promising Alaska Native and other minority students to pursue education in the earth and environmental sciences.

The focus of the Trust is to promote a better understanding of land, resources, and geologic processes and to support students preparing for related occupations. With education in these areas, students can prepare for roles in science-based land planning and management of natural resources; conservation and development of natural resources; stewardship of the environment; and research in earth history.

The purpose of the Schmidt Charitable Trust is to encourage Alaskans of any age to pursue education in the sciences, with an emphasis on earth sciences, so that they may become better stewards of the land and serve as positive role models for others.

Financial assistance supporting these purposes is available to, in priority order:

1) Alaska Natives who reside in rural Alaska

2) Alaska Native and other minority Alaskans in financial need in both rural and urban areas

3) Other Alaskans who show academic and personal promise in need of assistance.

Board of Directors

Mischa Ellanna

Mischa is a geologist and GIS analyst with Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

Cathy Hanks

Cathy Hanks received her BA in geology from Rice University and a M.S. in Geology from University of Washington, after which she came to Alaska and worked in the energy industry.  After receiving her Ph.D. at UAF, she taught classes and conducted research at UAF that focused on energy resources.  She is currently a Professor Emerita at UAF and resides in Fairbanks.

Amanda King

Amanda is originally from Anchorage, AK, only leaving to attend college and graduate school in California. She earned a B.S. in geochemistry from Caltech and a Ph.D. in geology from Stanford University. She is currently a Professor of Earth Sciences at Alaska Pacific University (APU) in Anchorage, primarily teaching undergraduates. Her research interests are focused on stable isotope geochemistry and paleoenvironmental change.

Ben Porterfield

Ben Porterfield grew up in Trapper Creek, Alaska.  He received a bachelors degree from the University of Alaska and a masters degree from the University of Arizona.  He has forty years of experience working for government agencies, private mining companies, and Native corporations.  He is currently on staff at Alaska Earth Sciences.

Nora Shew

Nora Shew earned a B.A. in Geology and Mathematics at San Francisco State University.  After graduation, she worked at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, then moved to the USGS office in Anchorage, Alaska, where she helped build and operate an argon extraction laboratory for doing K/Ar geochronology.  During the later part of her career as an operational geologist, she worked on building geospatial data sets of earth science information (geology, geochemistry, geochronology, and mineral resource information) for doing spatial analyses and creating maps.

Denise Wartes

Denise Wartes and family lived on the edge of the Arctic Ocean for several years, moving south to Fairbanks, where she earned a B.A. in Alaska Native Studies and Business Management and an M.A. in Cross-Cultural Studies, both from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  For over 30 years, Denise worked with and managed the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI) - a six-week, summer, college preparatory bridge program for Alaska Native and rural high school juniors and seniors. Denise is currently program manager emerita at UAF and resides in Fairbanks.

Frederic Wilson

Frederic (Ric) Wilson earned a B.S. in Geology at Michigan Technological University, briefly worked for Shell Oil Company in New Orleans, where he saw the light and moved to Alaska to earn an M.S. in Geology. Hired by the USGS, he then earned a Ph.D. in Geology at Dartmouth College while a USGS employee. Today he is a Research Geologist at the USGS working in Alaska and the Caribbean.