NSF grant awarded to five OSU students
Monday, April 25, 2011
Named NSF Graduate Fellows this spring are Lydia Meador, a Broken Arrow botany, biochemistry
and microbiology senior; Laura Merriman, a Holdenville biosystems engineering senior;
Taber Midgley, Durant biosystems engineering graduate student; Andrew Mock, an Edmond
civil engineering senior; and Jessica Morrison, a Bay City, Michigan, microbiology
graduate student.
Receiving honorable mentions were Phillip Long, a Stillwater botany graduate student,
and Elisabeth Ponce-Garcia, a Life Span Development Psychology Ph.D. student from
Mustang.
“The quality and success of OSU students is on full display with both undergraduates
and graduate students bringing home such major awards,” said OSU President Burns Hargis.
“We are proud of these extremely talented students and the faculty and others who
supported them in their success.”
The value of each three-year Fellowship is $121,500, according to Michael Heppler,
assistant director of Student Academic Services for the graduate college. This includes
$90,000 in funding paid directly as stipends to each student, plus $10,500 annually
to cover tuition and fees and other ancillary support at the institution where each
student chooses to study.
“We are very proud of the five OSU students who have been awarded NSF Graduate Research
Fellowships,” said Dr. Mark Payton, Interim Dean of the Graduate College. “These awards
are the result of outstanding research performed by our students and their faculty
mentors, and we extend our congratulations to them and their families. We wish all
our scholars the best, whether they continue their research endeavors at OSU or choose
to display the Oklahoma State brand at other prestigious research institutions.”
Taber and Morrison plan to use their Fellowships at OSU. Taber will study biosystems engineering and Morrison will study microbiology.
Meador will be using the grant for the Biological Design Ph.D. program at Arizona
State University, Mock will study civil engineering at the University of Illinois
and Merriman will study biological and agricultural engineering at North Carolina
State University.
The Fellowship program is NSF’s oldest program, founded in 1952. The program has supported
more than 44,000 U.S. citizens, nationals and permanent residents in pursuing advanced
degrees in science or engineering. The program is highly competitive and is designed
to help the U.S. maintain a talented and diverse scientific and technological workforce.
According to the NSF, the Fellows are expected to become knowledge experts who will
contribute to the nation’s research, teaching, and scientific and engineering innovations.