{"id":506,"date":"2026-07-17T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/?p=506"},"modified":"2026-07-17T23:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:07:18","slug":"robert-holland-jr-award-for-research-and-leadership-excellence-2026-recipient-dr-amy-mainzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/robert-holland-jr-award-for-research-and-leadership-excellence-2026-recipient-dr-amy-mainzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Holland Jr. Award for Research and Leadership Excellence 2026 Recipient, Dr. Amy Mainzer!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


The Robert Holland Jr. Award (Holland Award) celebrates outstanding senior scientists dedicated to research excellence, creative teaching, and a deeply impactful mentorship style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Amy Mainzer in the UCLA Meteorite Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Amy Mainzer was chosen for the Robert Holland Jr. Award because she perfectly embodies the harmony of world-class research, pedagogical innovation, and transformative mentorship. Beyond her exceptional record as a planetary scientist and astrophysicist, Dr. Mainzer is an award-winning educator who actively utilizes inclusive and modern pedagogies to dismantle barriers in the classroom. Her deep commitment to serving as an empathetic, inclusive mentor ensures that every student has the tools to reach their full potential. Furthermore, her systemic leadership in initiatives dedicated to broadening participation and retention in STEM makes her a vital, powerful new voice. By welcoming Dr. Mainzer into the Cottrell Scholar Community, they enrich collaborative teams and conferences with a leader uniquely dedicated to shaping an equitable future for the scientific community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Dr. Amy Mainzer leading a “DIY comet” demonstration for LA County educators during a teacher-training workshop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dr. Amy Mainzer teaching students from her EPSS 9 class how to build their own comet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Amy Mainzer discussing “The Force” with Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohost Adam Sigel on an episode of their Unobtainium podcast <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Here2Observe – CSU Channel Island student visit to JPL (Dr. Amy Mainzer (blue bucket hat) with NEO Surveyor scientists\/engineers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Swedish artist, Emmanuel Ross, discussing his art with Dr. Amy Mainzer and Dr. Dave Jewitt after his live plaster presentation at UCLA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Established in honor of the late Robert Holland Jr.\u2014an engineer, corporate executive, and dedicated RCSA Board member from 1997\u20132010\u2014the award welcomes recipients into the prestigious Cottrell Scholar community. Through this partnership, awardees bring diverse perspectives and innovative ideas to both the annual Cottrell Scholar Conference and active collaborative teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year’s winners:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy Mainzer<\/strong>
Astronomy
University of California, Los Angeles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jorge Col\u00f3n<\/strong>
Chemistry
University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davita Watkins<\/strong>
Chemistry
Ohio State University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations, Amy!!!
Well deserved! <\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Robert Holland Jr. Award (Holland Award) celebrates outstanding senior scientists dedicated to research excellence, creative teaching, and a deeply impactful mentorship style. Dr. Amy Mainzer was chosen for the Robert Holland Jr. Award because she perfectly embodies the harmony of world-class research, pedagogical innovation, and transformative mentorship. Beyond her exceptional record as a planetary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16,11,10,9,18,17,12],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-post","tag-education","tag-epss","tag-nasa","tag-neo-surveyor","tag-publiceducation","tag-stemeducation","tag-ucla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions\/529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neos.epss.ucla.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}