The National Science Foundation (NSF) is awarding 30 prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships to University of Texas at Austin students, including eight College of Natural Sciences (CNS) graduate students and five current undergraduates, as well as eight CNS alumni.
The fellowship supports students with outstanding potential to excel in the areas of science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM), by granting them 3 years of funding, consisting of $12,000 per year for the cost of education and a $34,000 stipend for research that leads to a master's or doctorate degree in STEM. The application process is open to first year graduate students and senior undergraduate students who intend to go to graduate school.
Jim Lewis, NSF acting assistant director for Education and Human Resources, said in the announcement that the talented individuals who have won the award in the past "have gone on to make important discoveries, win Nobel Prizes, train many generations of American scientists and engineers and create inventions that improve our lives."
UT Austin had 30 fellows this year, with the 13 recipients from the College of Natural Sciences representing various areas of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Last year CNS also had a high number of outstanding students awarded the fellowship, including eight graduate students and two undergraduates, as well as one alumnus.
This year's College of Natural Sciences fellows are:
Graduate Students:
- Christina Balentine, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
- Manual Dominguez, Chemistry
- Andrea Hannasch, Physics
- Grace Kago, Cell and Molecular Biology
- Lucy LeBlanc, Microbiology
- Mackenzie Meece-Rayle, Chemistry
- Jordan Villa, Biochemistry
- Matthew Whitmire, Neuroscience
Undergraduate Students:
- Dylan Airey, Mathematics Honors
- Michael Miyagi, Biology Honors
- Nicholas Prescott, Biochemistry/Spanish/Plan I Honors Program
- Luis Valencia, Biochemistry
- Ellen Zippi, Neuroscience Honors
Alumni:
- Robert "Ellis" Michael,Computer Science/Plan II Honors
- Andrew Wade Butler, Biology Honors
- Taylor Michele Hernandez,Chemistry
- Samantha Rae Friedrich, Chemistry
- Melissa Erin Cook, Biochemistry
- Jeffrey Lucas Self, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
- Morgan Elizabeth Merriman, Neuroscience
- Gualberto Andres Guzman, Computer Science
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