Rausser graduate students receive National Science Foundation awards

April 07, 2021

Congratulations to the seven students in Rausser College who have received the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. The fellowship supports exceptional students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines.

In the Energy and Resources Group, two students were awarded NSF fellowships: second-year master's student Jessica Kersey and doctoral student Annelise Gill-Wiehl. Kersey researches decentralized and innovative energy technologies that provide energy access and climate resilience in developing cities, particularly in the Caribbean and Latin America. Gill-Wiehl researches social infrastructure and outreach can help overcome barriers to adoption of technology in rural East Africa.

In the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM), doctoral student Rosalie Z. Fanshel and first year students Jennifer Ofodile and Yesenia Valverde also received the award. Fanshel researches the ways in which universities envision and enact organizational change to improve equity, inclusion, and anti-racist outcomes in agri-food system education and research. Ofodile focuses her research on unique pollution source chemical fingerprints to understand how outdoor and indoor pollution impact homes in Environmental Justice communities across the East Bay. Valverde’s research focuses on the role of agroforestry in promoting farmer-mediated conservation and restoration in Costa Rica.

Two doctoral students in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology (PMB), Luis Cantu Morin in microbiology and Nina Maryn in plant biology, received the fellowship as well. Cantu researches proteins involved in bacterial regulation, and Maryn researches photosynthesis and photoprotection in non-model organisms. 

A number of students in the College also received honorable mentions for the fellowship: Simon David Greenhill in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Marcus Lapeyrolerie (ESPM), Zoila Alvarez-Aponte (PMB), Leah Gulyas (PMB), and Karen Serrano (PMB).

To learn more about the fellowship, visit the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program website. To learn more about the recipients and their field of study, visit the Award Offers and Honorable Mentions List.