Six Scripps students and alumnae received recognition from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which supports outstanding students who are pursuing or plan to pursue research-based master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Nina Vincent 鈥�17, Michelle Ozaki 鈥�16, and Forest Balemian-Spencer 鈥�20 were awarded fellowships, and Tal Caspi 鈥�18, Leah Connor 鈥�16, and Michelle Wang 鈥�20 received honorable mentions.
The fellowship is highly competitive: Of approximately 13,000 applicants, 2,067 were selected as NSF Graduate Research Fellows, and 1,827 applicants received honorable mention recognition, according to Eric Hurwitt, program director at NSF. Vincent is studying energy engineering at the University of Washington, Ozaki is studying cell biology at Oregon Health & Science University, Caspi is studying ecology at the University of California, Davis, and Connor is studying chemistry of life processes at Yale. Current Scripps seniors Balemian-Spencer and Wang are studying petrology and chemical synthesis, respectively.