Four Occidental alumni and a graduating senior have been awarded prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Presented annually to candidates in the sciences and social sciences who are pursuing a master’s degree or Ph.D., the fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study.
Adrian Wong’18, Amelia Blankenau, 21岁, Ella Kirsch, 22岁, Kelsey Reckling ‘22 and Tehreem 海 ‘23 were awarded fellowships, 其中包括37美元,000美元的生活津贴和12美元,000英镑的生活津贴. Two other Occidental alumni, Maeve Secor ‘21, an evolutionary biology Ph.D. student at USC, and Laurence Seabrook, a cell biology Ph.D. student at UC Irvine, were awarded honorable mentions.
黄博士.D. student at UC San Diego studying biophysics, says that what excites him most about his research is its “broad applications to human health.” Wong’s research centers on the relationship between cellular metabolism and the properties of cell membranes. Such findings have potential connections to many metabolic and neurological diseases, 以及某些癌症. Wong credits the “outstanding teaching and mentorship” he received during his time at Oxy, particularly while working in research with the late Professor Aram Nersissian, as an inspiration that “ignited his passion for scientific inquiry.”
Kirsch is currently a research assistant in Oxy's Moore Lab of Zoology, where she is working to protect a bird species called the green jay (Cyanocorax yncas)通过研究其系统发育. Kirsch explains that her research is important because she has found that the northeastern population of green jays is so different from other subspecies that it could “possibly be considered a completely different species.“这很重要。, as “designating something as its own species can be very important for wildlife conservation policies,这是基尔希热衷的话题. Kirsch is grateful for her ability to continue with the Moore Lab of Zoology, where she has conducted research since her sophomore year at Occidental.
Reckling also works in the Moore Lab, where she researches genetic variation in red warblers (Cardellina红的)，墨西哥种. She also studies bird 迁移 at Bear Divide, a field site in the San Gabriel Mountains. 最近, Reckling had the opportunity to present her research at the American Ornithological Society conference in Puerto Rico. When reflecting on her undergraduate experience at Oxy, Reckling notes the wide variety of skills she learned, including “working with museum collections, doing lab work in the genomics center, 学习计算生物学, 塑造研究问题, 还有写助学金——举几个例子!”
Blankenau is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota, 她在那里研究种族, 种族, 迁移, 和心理健康. 丰富的李. Blankenau’s research focuses on the experiences and well-being of individuals with multiple marginalized identities, particularly in the contexts of adoption and health equity, specifically the intergenerational transmission of racial attitudes and its impact on youth development in transracial adoptive families. Blankenau says she is “excited to utilize the interdisciplinary knowledge” she gained from her coursework at Occidental, 其中包括心理学研究, 批判理论, 公共卫生. Blankenau says that she is indebted to the late Professor Andrea Hopmeyer, who was her undergraduate research mentor and academic advisor. Working with Hopmeyer for all four years at Oxy, Blankenau was able to publish a first-authored research article in the 同性恋杂志， which she said was “integral to [her] development as a researcher.”
海, 来自圣马特奥的物理系学生, is passionate about her current astronomy research with Assistant Professor of Physics Sabrina Stierwalt on mergers between low mass dwarf galaxies. 海 says one of the most exciting facets of her research is getting the opportunity to expand the field of astronomy through the discoveries she makes. 海 explains that since “Hubble took these images specifically for Dr. Stierwalt,” she gets to be the “first one to find and analyze star clusters in these galaxies,她说，这“让我大吃一惊。.” 海 appreciates how her education at Occidental has made her a well-rounded student and scientist, particularly in the realm of communication and writing. “Scientists cannot be productive members of society if they aren’t able to write about and present their work to the general public, and I think Oxy’s liberal arts education has trained me to write and communicate very well,她说。.
