UNC Students Awarded National Science Foundation Research Fellowships

Posted on April 11, 2023

Nearly three dozen Carolina undergraduate and graduate students have received awards from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program for their research in STEM-related fields, including chemistry, geography, neuroscience and more.

Of the winners, 25 of the degree programs are housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, and several recipients come from schools across the University, including the UNC School of Medicine, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Education.

The program began in 1952 and awards highly competitive fellowships to recognize and support outstanding students who plan to pursue research-based master’s or doctoral degrees. Fellows receive federal funding through a three-year stipend, educational support and opportunities for professional development and international research.

Graduate School Dean Beth Mayer-Davis said this year’s winners come from key areas of graduate research that drive creation of new knowledge to solve major challenges of the day while positioning North Carolina to thrive. “These students represent the breadth of graduate education at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Mayer-Davis said. “This prestigious recognition is part of what puts Carolina’s students at the forefront of research with impact. I’m thrilled that our students’ curiosity has led them to this achievement.”

UNC recipients include:

College of Arts and Sciences

• Madyson Barber (Department of physics and astronomy)
• Jarvis Benson (Department of sociology)
• Anneliese Brei (Department of computer science)
• Megan Cardenas (Department of psychology and neuroscience)
• Samantha Clouthier (Department of chemistry)
• Justine Ann Drappeau (Department of chemistry)
• Guadalupe Lourdes Duran (Department of physics and astronomy)
• Shedrick Garrett (Department of psychology and neuroscience)
• Kaitlyn Hohmeier (Department of mathematics)
• Kaitlin Hope Joshua (Department of sociology)
• Isaac Linn (Chancellor’s Science Scholars Program)
• Madelina Marquez (Department of biology)
• Don McTaggart (Department of chemistry)
• Caroline Michelle Coxwell Mohler (Department of chemistry)
• Ayana Monroe (Chancellor’s Science Scholars Program)
• Michael Nisenzon (Department of statistics & operations research)
• Preethi Saravanan (Department of anthropology)
• Michelle Shipkova (Department of psychology and neuroscience)
• Eva Mei Shouse (Department of biology)
• Evan Stair (Department of chemistry)
• Olivia Steiner (Department of chemistry)
• Honoka Suzuki (Department of psychology and neuroscience)
• Charles Teeples (Department of chemistry)
• Sydney Emily Towell (Department of chemistry)
• Bryttani Wooten (Department of geography)

UNC School of Medicine

• Glory Dan-Dukor (Pharmaceutical sciences)
• McKenzie Grundy (Pharmacology)
• Nichole Margaret Hondrogiannis (Department of cell biology and physiology)
• Dhuvarakesh Karthikeyan (bioinformatics & computational biology)
• Rachel Sharp (Neuroscience curriculum) 

Others

• Sahar Kathryn Habib (UNC School of Education)
• Sophie Shan (Department of biostatistics; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health)
• Lucy Katherine Tantum (Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health)