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A dozen graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill have received prestigious awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) for 2022 for their research in STEM-related fields. Several other graduate students received honorable mentions.

Bynum Hall
Bynum Hall

The fellowships recognize and support outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s or doctoral degrees. Fellows receive federal funding by way of a three-year stipend, educational support, and opportunities for professional development and international research. The fellowship began in 1952. 

Suzanne Barbour, dean of The Graduate School, said this year’s recipients are emblematic of graduate students’ commitment to the University’s tripartite mission of research, teaching, and service as they pursue top-ranked graduate programs. 

“Carolina’s graduate students are at the forefront of research,” Barbour said. “They’re our next generation of leaders who are changing our world with their commitment to research and discovery.” 

Graduate student recipients of the NSF GRFP

  • Maurryce Starks (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Nicholas Zane Randolph (Curriculum in bioinformatics and computational biology; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Tara Di Cassio (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences)
  • Maya Powell (Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program; College of Arts and Sciences)
  • Stephanie Peak (Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences; College of Arts and Sciences)
  • Delaney O’Connell ’20 (Department of Biology; College of Arts and Sciences
  • Haley Macdonald (Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
  • Yarrow Linden (Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
  • Katelyn Kitzinger (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)
  • Sarah Anne Howard (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
  • Alexis Harvey (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • John Patrick Sunglao Flores (Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Maya Bluitt (Department of Neuroscience; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Alyssa Felix Thayne (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Maria Emily Furukawa, (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences 
  • Alyssa Holden (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
  • Sarah Mott (Biological and biomedical sciences)
  • Michaela Rodriguez (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences)
  • Jaydn Sethna (Department of Biology; College of Arts and Sciences)

Graduate student honorable mentions include the following:

  • Julia Cardwell (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Guillermo Sebastian Colon (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Margaret Dedloff (Department of Microbiology and Immunology; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Karen Ehrhardt (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Annie Elledge (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Molly Frauenheim (Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health) 
  • Lauren Kass (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy) 
  • Caleb Kozuszek (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • John Migliore (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Esmeralda Navarro (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Eliza Neidhart (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Justin Neu (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Nina Nishiyama (Curriculum in bioinformatics and computational biology; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Cassandra Phillips (Department of cell biology and physiology; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • Brandon Pratt (Department of Pharmacology; UNC School of Medicine) 
  • David Qiu (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences) 
  • Anna Shelton-Ormond ’15 (Department of Sociology; College of Arts and Sciences 
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