Two recent Occidental graduates are recipients of National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships, awarded annually to candidates in the sciences and social sciences who are pursuing a master’s degree or Ph.D.Â
The award provides a $32,000 living stipend and $12,000 per year for tuition for a period of three years. Â
Cecilia Prator ’12, a biology major from La Crescenta, is pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental science at UC Berkeley. Prator also received a Fulbright research grant to Australia for 2012-2013. In addition, Berkeley awarded her a Chancellor's Fellowship for Graduate study, which is given to the top 4 percent of admitted doctoral students.
Her doctoral research focuses on plant diseases caused by insect-transmitted pathogens and their affects on agriculture worldwide. She is studying the interaction between the pathogen and the vector required for disease spread, with a goal of the development of novel disease-control strategies.
Specifically, she is studying grapevine leafroll disease (GLD), caused by grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3), a rapidly increasing problem in California and all grape-growing regions of the world.
Kosa Kendall Goucher-Lambert ’11, a physics major from Portland, Ore., is pursuing a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, where he is part of the Integrated Design Innovation Group.
While at swagÍâÁ÷, he was the lead student advisor for the popular Solar Cup, the nation’s largest high school solar-powered boat competition. He received the Dell G. Taylor Scholarship from 2007 to 2011 ($25,000 per year for minority students pursuing STEM careers).
The following swagÍâÁ÷ candidates received honorable mention:
- Nicole Leung ’11, molecular biology, UC Santa Barbara
- Ann Gregory ’10, evolutionary biology, University of Arizona
- Sonia Ghose ‘10, geonomics, no academic institution listed
- Joan Dudney ’06, environmental science, no academic institution listed
