Clarkson University undergraduate Maria Lang has received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Maria C. Lang, a senior mechanical engineering major from El Paso, Texas, received the fellowship. She is a member of Clarkson’s Honors Program and a Ronald E. McNair Scholar.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are the most prestigious awards available to students beginning their graduate studies in engineering and the sciences. The ranks of NSF Fellows include individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in research and have become leaders in their chosen careers, including several Nobel Laureates.

Lang entered Clarkson as one of the first cohort of the S-STEM program funded by NSF in 2007. She was admitted into the Honors Program after her freshman year due to her outstanding performance.

Lang was inspired by late astronaut McNair and a former McNair scholar to dream of becoming an astronaut. She participated in the NASA Academy in 2010, working in the propulsion branch at Goddard Space Flight Center with Rich Luquette and Paul Mason.

Her honors thesis is on the computational fluid dynamics of nano-aerosols, supervised by Prof. Suresh Dhaniyala. After graduation, Lang will pursue her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she will investigate electric propulsion/plasma dynamics with Prof. Iain Boyd. She is also a recipient of the Rackham Merit Fellowship there at the Rackham Graduate School.

“Maria has been an outstanding scholar and role model for her fellow McNair Scholars,” said Tammy McGregor-Twiss, assistant director of Clarkson’s McNair Program. “Her strong work ethic, drive and passion have led her to aspire, advance and achieve at every step of her undergraduate career. From obtaining two McNair research opportunities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, to participation in numerous professional conferences, tutoring and honors research, Maria is very deserving of this fellowship.”

“Maria exemplifies the all-around excellence of an Honors student,” said Jon D. Goss, director of Clarkson’s Honors Program. “Not only is she a brilliant student doing cutting-edge research, but she also tutors math and physics at Clarkson, and is extensively involved in outreach to promote sciences and engineering in K-12 education in the region. On top of that, she is an accomplished pianist and she imagines the prospect of playing in the first piano quartet in space when she succeeds in becoming an astronaut.”

The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program is intended to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States. It provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees.

Clarkson’s Honors Program is an intensive four-year curriculum for exceptionally talented students. The University admits only 30 new students to the Honors Program each year.

As one of the eight federally funded TRIO programs of the U.S. Department of Education, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program prepares first generation & low-income and/or underrepresented students for doctoral studies. The McNair program hosted at Clarkson University is one of 200 across the United States.

- Original unedited article posted by Clarkson University News and Digital Content Services on April 7, 2011.

The GRF is one of the most prestigious awards that a graduate student can receive. The GRF includes an annual stipend of $30,000, tuition funding, and discretionary funds for research and travel, and opportunities for international research.

Under the direction of faculty mentor, Martin Feldman PhD, Cantu gained extensive experience as an undergraduate researcher, including an internship with the prestigious NanoJapan Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University in Sendai Japan. She also presented her research at a number of conferences, including the International Conference on Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication.

Cantu explained her reaction to the announcement, “I felt like I won the lottery. It really was a boost of confidence.” When asked about the application process Cantu stated, “It was a lot of work. The workshops and one-on-one help from the McNair Program were so important in preparing me to complete the application.” Cantu is currently a PhD student at the University of Utah.

- Original article posted on LSU website.

Through the McNair Scholars Program, Whitmill increased her confidence, sharpened her presentation delivery and networking skills and fulfilled the requirements needed to enter the graduate school of her choice. Her long-term goal is to teach at the university level, but through her time here, she has already gained invaluable experience. She provided Principles of Microbiology and Biology 1406 students with peer-assisted study sessions and exam and quiz reviews as supplemental instruction (SI) leader. From 2008-2011, she also served as a tutor/mentor for the CCISD’s 21st Century LLC assisting students with homework and leading educational, science related activities for groups of children in grades sixth through 12 at area middle and high schools. She has also been active with volunteer projects ranging from planning arts and crafts activities for children at the Ronald McDonald House to teaching kids at the Boys and Girls Club about the importance of wearing sunscreen. In addition, she served as historian for the Association of Women in Science and was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Professional Honor Society. In her photo, Whitmill holds a National Science Foundation LSAMP/BPC Research Fellowship Award.

-Article originally posted on June 11, 2011 on the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi website.

“We have created a fresh new look to reflect our expanding efforts to be a practical resource for evidenced-based analysis about the challenges facing low-income and first-generation students,” said Chandra Taylor Smith, Ph.D., director of the Pell Institute. “We also wanted to provide practical assistance to college access and success programs at postsecondary institutions to establish effective practices that support this growing population of students who likely need additional help when it comes to getting a college degree.”

Accordingly, the new Web site features two recently released publications to highlight the Pell Institute’s research and policy efforts concerning low-income students in postsecondary education: (1) Developing 20/20 Vision on the President’s 2020 Goal: Understanding the Threat of Income-Based Inequality in Degree Attainment (May 2011), which argues that reducing the income-based gap in bachelor’s degree attainment will enable the United States to become the nation with the largest share of college graduates; and (2) Promising Practices Supporting Low-Income, First-Generation Students at DeVry University (May 2011), which catalogues the academic and social support services offered at one of the nation’s largest proprietary universities, and benchmarks them against similar programs designed to support individuals from disadvantaged background.

The Web site also features enhanced accessibility to the Pell Institute’s Evaluation Toolkit, which is designed to assist outreach programs to more readily and systematically use data and outcome measures to improve their service delivery. Also highlighted is the Retention Toolkit, which arms four-year institutions with the tools to undertake more informed and coordinated approaches to retain low-income students.

For further information about the Pell Institute’s new Web site or to access other Pell Institute publications, including the Evaluation or Retention toolkits, visit www.pellinstitute.org.

Click here for additional information and on-line registration.

For general information, please contact Alejandro Gonzalez at (510) 642-7935. For additional information contact: Harold H. Campbell, Ph.D., McNair Director, UCB, hcampbel@berkeley.edu, (510) 642-8015

Congress approved of the new compromise bill, H.R. 1473, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011, on April 14, 2011. The President signed the legislation into law shortly thereafter. This bill went even further than the much maligned H.R. 1 in that it proposed to cut TRIO by a full $26.6 million. Meanwhile, GEAR UP received a $20.4 million cut. All told, this legislation will result in the loss of approximately 150,000 TRIO and GEAR UP students. Ultimately, a total of 215,000 low-income, potential first-generation students would have lost the opportunity participate in TRIO programs during both the Bush and Obama Administrations.

H.R. 1473 put forth several other cuts to programs important to low-income students and families. Included among such reductions is a $21.5 million cut to Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and the elimination of several literacy programs(Striving Readers, Even Start, and Literacy through School Libraries). Despite the fact that the White House issued a veto threat over H.R. 1 and the Democrat-controlled Senate defeated this bill, the President and leaders within both branches of Congress hailed H.R. 1473 as a victory. However, activists who represent low-income populations uniformly rejected this legislation. In a public statement, COE President Arnold Mitchem noted that while “Americans define the American dream as the opportunity for their children to achieve mobility,” according to the Pew Foundation, “the United States provides less social mobility than many of its peer countries, including Germany and Canada.” Indeed, now that H.R. 1473 is the law of the land, this negative trend will only continue.

UCF McNair scholars Rene Diaz, a senior Mechanical Engineering & Aerospace Engineering major, and Keon Vereen, a masters student in Aerospace Engineering, have been awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. Scholar Elise Hernandez, Psychology major,  was recognized with an honorable mention.

Diaz and Vereen are two of 2,000 students nationwide to receive the award, which recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

The scholars credit the McNair program for their success. When asked how the program assisted them, each of the scholars emphasized the importance of the personal and technical support the program provides.

Vereen appreciated his faculty advisor’s willingness “to take my rough drafts and turn them into a polished application.” Vereen’s winning submission was the product of 15 revisions.

Diaz explains that, if not for his graduate McNair mentor, his NSF application would not have been possible. Rene’s graduate mentor, Roberto Miguez, a UCF McNair alum and NSF fellow currently enrolled at the University of Michigan, helped Rene by sharing past experiences, advice, and an eagerness to see a fellow McNair scholar succeed.

For Hernandez, her plan had always been to wait until her first year in graduate school to submit an NSF application. She was encouraged by UCF McNair director, Michael Aldarondo-Jeffries, to submit an application during her senior year for the experience of participating in the process. “The fact that I ended up submitting a really decent application that I can use as a framework for next year is amazing.” says Hernandez.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. Benefits include a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 annual cost-of-education allowance, international research and professional development opportunities and access to TeraGrid supercomputing facilities.

Since 2007, six UCF McNair scholars have been awarded NSF fellowships and four scholars have received honorable mentions.

UCF McNair Winners:

• Robert Miguez, University of Michigan (2009)
• Melonie Sexton Williams, Vanderbilt University (2009)
• Enrique Ortiz, University of Central Florida (2007)
• Anamary Leal, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2010)

UCF McNair Honorable Mention Awards:

• Jamie Durate, University of California Irvine (2010)
• Keon Vereen, University of Central Florida (2010)
• Melonie Williams, Vanderbilt University (2008)

UCF Scholar Stephanie Parenti

Stephanie Parenti, a senior McNair Scholar at the University of Central Florida, is one of 20 students nationwide to be awarded this year’s Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship.

The Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program provides funding to participants as they are prepared academically and professionally to enter the United States Department of State Foreign Service.  The fellowship provides financial support of up to $40,000 annually to cover tuition, room and board, and living expenses for two years of graduate study in international studies. Parenti will attend Seton Hall University this fall where she will pursue a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations. Upon earning her master’s, she will work as a Foreign Service officer for a minimum of three years as part of her fellowship obligation.

The Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The fellowship, named to honor one of the most distinguished American diplomats of the latter half of the 20th century, is intended to develop Foreign Service officers (FSOs) dedicated to representing America’s interests abroad. FSOs are posted at any one of more than 265 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

In addition to her academic accomplishments and service activities, Parenti is in the honors program at UCF, active in Amnesty International, Undergraduate Research Council, and and has interned with the offices of U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and U.S. Representative Alan Grayson.

Parenti, a Political Science major with a concentration in International Relations-Comparative Politics, was one of two students selected from Florida.

Felipe Leon Guerrero and his summer Caltech mentor Dr. Peter Bossaerts

Every year, University of Central Florida (UCF) students from across different disciplines present their research and creative projects at the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE). The event encourages undergraduates from all disciplines to present current or recently completed academic projects showcasing the diversity of topics, approaches, and interests at UCF.  This year, two hundred and forty students presented their work. Students were divided into ten different judging categories and scholarships are awarded to the best projects in each category.

We would like to congratulate the following McNair scholars for being recognized and awarded prizes:

Felipe Leon Guerrero received 1^st place in the Social Sciences II category for his project A differentiation Between Bayesian Updating and Model-Free Reinforcement Learning in Human Choice under Uncertainty. His mentor was Dr. Peter Bossaerts (from California Institute of Technology).

Marlaine Monroig received 2^nd place in the Health Sciences category for her project Associations Between Positive Health Behaviors and Psychological Distress. Her mentor was Dr. Jeffrey Bedwell in Psychology.

Marie Sabbagh received an Honorable Mention in the Social Sciences III category for her project Influence of Defendant Mental Illness on Jury Sentencing. Her mentor was Dr. Erin Murdoch in Psychology.

Additional McNair scholars that participated in SURE include:

Laura Adarve
Project: Examining Environmentally Friendly Behaviors: A Comparison of Native and Foreign-Born Latinos in the United States
Mentor: Dr. Fernando Rivera (Sociology)

Rene Diaz
Project: Processing of Commercial Grade Fe-Based Structural Amorphous Steels
Mentors: Dr. William Johnson, Dr. Marios Demetriou (California Institute of Technology)

Elise Hernandez
Project: Older Adults and Online Social Networking
Mentor: Dr. Janan Smither (Psychology)

Jie Liang
Project: Fast Sparse Representation-Based Classification for Real-World Face Recognition on Facebook
Mentors: Dr. Xin Li (Mathematics), Dr. Mubarak Shah (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)

Stephanie Parenti
Project: Neocolonialism: Social Construction and Solutions
Mentor: Dr. David Houghton (Political Science)

Marie Shultz
Project: Factors Related to Stress in Nursing Students
Mentor: Dr. Maureen Covelli (Nursing)

Candice Torres
Project: Sex Trafficking: Florida’s Response to International Organized Crime
Mentor: Dr. Houman Sadri (Political Science)

The trip began a day early for Rolando Flores, Jr. Born and raised in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Rolando was excited to return home and visit the University of California Riverside (UCR). The afternoon at UCR began with lunch with Maria Franco-Aguilar, Director for Academic Preparation & Outreach in the graduate division. After a tour of the campus, Rolando had the opportunity to visit with two faculty in the Sociology department.

The next day, the five scholars, Rolando Flores, Jr.; Lilian Milanés; Esteban Santis; Monica Thomas and Ivan Trivino, were welcomed to the University of California at Irvine by the Director of Outreach, Recruitment & Retention, Raslyn Rendon, and the program’s coordinator, Daniel Fabrega. In addition to a tour of the Irvine campus, the scholars were introduced to the various funding opportunities, housing options, and support resources available for graduate students. In the afternoon, scholars conducted faculty interviews. The scholars also had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Susan Coutin, the Associate Dean of the Graduate Division about the how to submit a strong graduate school application. The day ended with a conversation with Dr. Frances Leslie, the Dean of the Graduate Division. Dean Leslie spoke with the scholars about the application process, the different programs at UCI, and everything that UCI offers graduate students.

The following day the scholars visited the University of California at San Diego to take part in UC Edge. The event included numerous McNair Scholars from various universities in California and the University of Central Florida. After the registration and breakfast, the scholars sat down and participated in workshops focused on the different aspects of the graduate school application and the various options for fellowships (Ford, Javits, Fulbright, NSF, and UC Diversity Fellowships). The event ended with the scholars taking part in the UC recruitment fair. The ten UC schools (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) invited scholars to ask questions and sign-up to receive further information about prospective graduate programs.

The visit to California served as an invaluable experience for the scholars. The scholars now have more options regarding their future plans for graduate school. More importantly, all of them returned to Orlando with a greater understanding of the challenges awaiting them in the fall as they begin their fellowship and graduate school applications.