Kansas State University students earn National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
MANHATTAN — Three Kansas State University students have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for the coming academic year.
In addition, a student planning to enter the university as a graduate student in 2016-2017 is a fellowship recipient, and three Kansas State University alumnae were recognized in the competition.
The current Kansas State University students receiving NSF Graduate Research Fellowships include Obdulia Covarrubias, doctoral student in chemistry, Liberal; Ryan Greenway, doctoral student in biology, Amarillo, Texas; and Catherine Hill, doctoral student in psychology, Katy, Texas.
Sarah Winnicki, Medina, Ohio, also received a fellowship and will be a graduate student in biology at Kansas State University in the coming academic year.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship recognizes outstanding students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics. Fellowship recipients receive three years of funding, including a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 payment to the university in lieu of tuition and fees. The foundation received nearly 17,000 applications for the fellowship; only 2,000 were successful.
"The NSF Fellowship is one of the highest forms of recognition awarded to graduate students in STEM disciplines in the U.S.," said Peter K. Dorhout, the university's vice president for research. "This sends an important message about the strengths of our graduate programs and their ability to attract the very best students out there, including some of our own undergraduate students. Excellent students such as these are hallmarks of graduate programs at a Top 50 public research university."
"NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are extremely competitive and seek to invest in future leaders and innovators across a wide range of science and technology fields," said Jim Hohenbary, Kansas State University's director of nationally competitive scholarships. "The fact that multiple K-Staters were recognized in the competition really affirms the quality of work they have been doing, first as undergraduates and now as graduate students."
Covarrubias is developing a novel drug delivery platform that targets defensive cells that can recognize pathogens in the body to treat bacterial infections. She graduated from Liberal High School in 2010 and from Seward County Community College in 2012. She is the daughter of Julian and Obdulia Covarrubias.
Greenway's research aims to understand how fish in naturally occurring toxic springs adapt to these extreme environments and become reproductively isolated from fish in nontoxic freshwater streams. He graduated from Amarillo High School in 2011 and from Oklahoma State University in 2014. He is the son of Scott and Kristi Greenway.
Hill is researching the effects of high-fat and high-sugar diets on impulsivity using a rat model. She graduated from Cinco Ranch High School in 2011 and from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, in 2014. She is the daughter of Schottsie and Lu Hill.
Winnicki is researching the behavioral ecology of breeding birds. She graduated from Cloverleaf High School in Lodi, Ohio, in 2012, and she will graduate from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 2016. She is the daughter of Tim Winnicki and Amy Niedermier-Winnicki.
Alumnae also receiving fellowships are DeeAnn Turpin, a 2013 bachelor's graduate in biological systems engineering, and Cynthia Hampton, a 2011 bachelor's graduate in biological systems engineering. Katherine Gentry, a 2014 bachelor's graduate in biochemistry, was recognized as an honorable mention.
Kansas State University undergraduates and first-year graduate students interested in applying for the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship can visit Hohenbary in 215 Fairchild Hall or contact him at 785-532-3422 or jimlth@k-state.edu.
