国产传媒

Brache-Smith, who is from Miami, received a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology from Miami Dade College and is pursuing her Ph.D. in the with Professor Maggie Sogin.

Her project鈥檚 focus is to determine if seagrass-associated microorganisms can be leveraged to stimulate seagrass growth. The primary goal of her Ph.D. is to explore the feasibility of developing beneficial microbial consortia to use as a probiotic biofertilizer to promote seagrass growth.

Brache-Smith said the fellowship validates her expertise in the field of marine microbiology.

鈥淩eceiving this award as a first-generation college graduate, Latina and mother is particularly impactful,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his award demonstrates that I am capable of creating a plan to fill a research gap and communicating it effectively.

鈥淎s an NSF GRFP recipient, I hope to inspire and motivate others from underrepresented groups to pursue their own goals and aspirations.鈥�

Lema, who is from Hayward, received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in environmental engineering at 国产传媒 this May. She was involved in two research groups with professors Marie-Odile Fortier and Erin Hestir. She investigated how direct land use and albedo change contribute to the life cycle environmental impacts of electricity generated from coal in the U.S.; identified the interrelated factors that could affect the efficacy of the climate engineering approach of ocean iron fertilization; used remote sensing to identify watersheds with wildfire-related sediment and carbon discharges to kelp forests in California coastal waters; and computationally modeled the impacts of wildfires on watershed hydrology.

Lema is continuing to build a research career with broader impacts to environmental protection and climate change mitigation by pursuing a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While at 国产传媒, Morningstar performed research with the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Center鈥檚 (LAEP). In May, they received a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biological sciences with an emphasis in evolution and ecology. The Sacramento native will be attending UC Davis in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in plant biology.

鈥淩eceiving the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship is one of the highest honors an incoming graduate student can get,鈥� Morningstar said. 鈥淭o me, it is not only a validation of my struggle for success as a first-generation scholar, but also an intimate acknowledgment of my passion for science.鈥�